Industrial Wood & Allied Workers of Canada (I.W.A. Canada Local 700) v. Uniform Countertops Inc.
0125-01-R Industrial Wood & Allied Workers of Canada (I.W.A. Canada Local 700), Applicant v. Uniform Countertops Inc., Responding Party.
BEFORE: Bram Herlich, Vice-Chair, and Board Members J. A. Rundle and R. R. Montague.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; June 13, 2001
1In its decision directing the representation vote in this application for certification, the Board (differently constituted) indicated (perhaps incorrectly) that the applicant had not previously been found by the Board to be a trade union.
2On and after the day the vote was held the parties executed a certification worksheet indicating that the only remaining issue related to the applicant’s status. That document referred to union submissions to the Board dated April 18, 2001 which it was suggested were sufficient to prove status. The parties agreed that the Board could dispose of the issue on the basis of those submissions.
3The Board reviewed the union’s submissions and, in a decision dated May 17, 2001, indicated that those submissions and the decisions referred to therein were not sufficient to establish the applicant’s status as a trade union within the meaning of the Act.
4The applicant has now clarified that there were two separate submissions made to the Board and each dated April 18, 2001.
5The Board did not have the second set of submissions before it when it issued its May 17, 2001 decision.
6Those submissions indicate that certificates (dated September 17, 1998 and August 23, 1999) have previously issued to the applicant.
7While there is some basis for those submissions, a review of the Board’s records discloses that they may not be entirely accurate.
8In the most recent of those cases Roma Moulding Inc. (Board File No. 1366-99-R), the Board in a decision dated August 9, 1999, found the applicant in that case to be a trade union (and a certificate subsequently issued to it). The applicant in that case was: “Industrial Wood & Allied Workers of Canada I.W.A. Canada – Local 700”.
9In Bethel Saw Mill Co. Ltd. an applicant named “I.W.A. Canada Local 700” was found (in a decision dated August 20, 1998 in Board File No. 1750-98-R) to be a trade union and was subsequently issued a certificate.
10Although not disclosed in either of those decisions, a review of the Board’s records discloses that the finding in each of those cases appears to have been made on the basis of a Certificate on Status of Trade Union on file with the Board which itself refers to an application by I.W.A. – Canada, Local 700 in Board File No. 1188-97-R. In that latter case, Wilson’s Truck Lines Limited (unreported August 7, 1997), the Board declared that the applicant union had acquired the rights, privileges and duties of its predecessor The Canadian Union of Drivers and General Workers by reason of a merger, amalgamation, or transfer of jurisdiction.
11This may not be the most typical of trajectories leading to a finding of trade union status.
12Further, the responding party employer has now filed material asserting that the applicant ought not to be permitted to amend the name included in the application. (The applicant requests the removal of the parentheses around the words “I.W.A. Canada Local 700” so that its name will more closely correspond to the name of the entity found to be a union in the Bethel case.)
13The employer also submits that the application ought to be dismissed.
14Part of the employer’s submissions are premised on the assertion that the name and/or membership evidence may have caused confusion around whether employees were becoming members in the parent or the local.
15In that regard, the employer may (or not) be comforted to know that the form of the membership evidence was as follows. The heading of employee membership card reads: “Application for Membership in Industrial Wood & Allied Workers of Canada I.W.A. Canada…”. The body of the card reads: “I hereby request and accept membership in the Industrial Wood & Allied Workers of Canada (I.W.A. Canada) Local 700”.
16The applicant has indicated that it is prepared to file its constitution and By Laws or any other documentation if required.
17The applicant is directed to file any constitutional or other documents which may assist the Board in its determination. These documents and any related submissions are to be filed (and delivered to the responding party) not later than three weeks from the date of this decision.
18The responding party will have two weeks from the date of receipt of those documents to make any further submissions. The responding party should indicate to the Board whether or not it is content for the Board to issue a final decision in the matter without holding a hearing. The responding party will undoubtedly wish to evaluate some of the information provided in this decision in formulating its position. It may, however, assist the parties to know that if all that ultimately separates them is the placement of a set of parentheses or a dash in the applicant’s name, it may be difficult for the Board to be persuaded of the need for a hearing in this case.
19This panel of the Board will review the matter once all of the submissions directed herein have been filed.
“Bram Herlich”
for the Board