Unions....

Further to my rather vague post on Unions, here is a much more detailed rant written by my friend and posted on her face book. It gives more insight into her experience. I felt the need to copy it here, mainly so that I have a copy of it.


You know it is a bad sign when your corporate lawyer sits down with you to begin discussing your venture into the world of Union Certification and says “You’re going to lose. You are going to come out of this worse off than when you began and the trick is to lose as little as possible and still manage to survive. “



Unfortunately, he was bang on. We lost. There is no winning situation on behalf of a company when dealing with a Union, at least from my limited perspective. I completely understand and even support the general ideology behind why Unions came to be in the first place. The Industrial Revolution created a situation where man power became cheap and terribly expendable and all manner of work abuse emerged when the bulk of the labour force moved from the farm into the factories. However, it has been my experience that the good ideas have been pushed and twisted and warped to the point that Unions are now the abusers and the companies (especially the smaller ones) are too easily the victims.


Naturally, I can only speak from my own experiences and as much as I am writing this because my cousin asked for my perspective (she is a social teacher looking for more than the standard curriculum information regarding unions), it is also a catharsis or a closure tool for me personally. You will have to forgive me if I am a little biased in my views.. I was up very late last night caving into the last of their demands and while I am happy to announce that we finally have a Certified Bargaining Agreement to put to vote this week, I rather feel as if I have been ‘screwed, blued and tattooed’.


Let’s begin with the basics. Any group of employees may band together and apply at a Union for representation. This is called an application for certification. As soon as any union receives this application they notify the Alberta Labour Board (ALB) who then notifies the lucky company. At this point we were advised that we were no longer able to hire, fire or do anything to our company policies that would affect the ‘financial status’ of any of our ‘employees’.


First off, no one in their right mind considers a taxi driver an ‘employee’. They are self employed sub contractors. They own their own vehicle, set their own hours, make their wages directly from the customers they transport and are responsible for their own expenses. They simply pay our company a weekly fee for using our name, using our banking system to cash their credit card fares and for access to the contracts we have garnered for them - the biggest one of course being the International Airport.


Well, apparently the ALB disagrees with us. We took it to court, we lost. For one whole year while we were trying to get the government to see that while our drivers do indeed drive a car with our corporate logo on the side, we did not influence the majority of their working conditions (the International Airport guidelines are very strict and we are bound by our agreement with them as to how we run a good portion of our business) ... we were not allowed to hire, fire, or in essence run our company without “union approval”. This is a terrible handicap and our business suffered because of it.


After the ALB ruling that our drivers were indeed “employees for the purpose of representation” the union announced a date to vote. If 51% or more of our entire driving population voted ‘yes’, we would be union certified.


Here is where I believe the first dangerous areas of abuse can occur. During the period between applying for certification and the vote, the rules of conduct for union members/employees and the company are vastly different and worrying.


The company may not say or do anything that will ‘influence an employee’s decision one way or another’. Apparently this includes telling the truth about anything. Our lips are firmly sealed while yet we have to stand by and watch various employees lie, abuse and threaten their fellow members into whatever they want them to believe.


There are no laws governing the methods employees use to coerce their voting body into voting whichever way the ringleaders want. And yes, I use the term ringleaders. I don’t suppose it’s any different in any other company where there are natural leaders among the employee population - the men/women who will stand up and speak on behalf of their fellow workers.


Because it took a year for the ALB to determine that our drivers were rightfully allowed representation by a union, there were a great many instances of abuse. Drivers who voiced any negative opinions about unionization were threatened, verbally and physically abused and lied to. Yes, I know, there are laws regarding threats and abuse... but amazingly enough no one pressed any charges. Draw your own conclusions.


The Union’s response to these concerns? That it was the company’s fault for fighting the certification process in the first place and if we had simply allowed the vote, it would have happened in the normal time frame of a week or two, instead of the year it took us. Gee, thanks for your help.


So. Ok. The vote happens, naturally we are certified. Now comes the fun stuff. The way I see it, we own and run the company because we can. We have the experience, the knowledge, the dedication to ‘be the bosses’. I’m sorry, but if any employee could do it, they would have and they would not be employees.


Unionization gives a group of people the right to manage a company when they are dangerously unqualified to do so. Without consulting us, without doing any kind of research into the taxi industry in Alberta, the union placed their demands upon our company and made promises to their members that were patently impossible to fulfill.


Another year later we were still arguing a good many of these points. This brings me to another concern. The union officials, the people who are union employees – who are paid to administer the union, coordinate the efforts of certification, the experienced men/women who understand labour laws and business ethics and practices – are only puppets for the bargaining members.


During the bargaining process, there are two committees. One made up of the company, the other by union employees and employees of the company (the bargaining members). Once again, the people who are best qualified to make decisions (the experience union employees) are not the ones who do so.


No matter how ridiculous or mob like the bargaining members’ demands are, the union must present them to the company and fight on their behalf. This is a colossal waste of time and energy when certain demands are patently unfeasible because (in our case) a) they go against the contract between the company and the airport or b) they would very quickly bankrupt the company.


Now, if you have a few choice members on the employee committee side of the table, who have ulterior motives.. like say, closing our company so it will benefit a rival company.. or bankrupting our company simply because they hate us.. or getting their way on an item because it personally benefits them and their own ethnic circle.... the union and the company is very limited in how they can respond to these threats. All we can do is talk, talk, talk and try to get them to see reason.


The employees 100% drive the bargaining. If you are stuck with a group of people whose idea of bargaining is ‘No, give in.’ .. .and “No. Have you changed your mind yet?”... “NO. We want it this way regardless of your logic or reasoning.. “... your company can be in grave danger.


Thankfully we managed, by sheer will and determination, and yes... by being willing to close the company and walk away should we have been pressed further... we managed to come out of the bargaining process with an agreement we are hoping we can live with.


Time will tell.


And another friend posted these comments afterwards:


Everything you have said here is absolutely true. I agree with all your points, particularly "I completely understand and even support the general ideology behind why Unions came to be in the first place."


One unfortunate and incontrovertible fact is that the fat cats (both literally and figuratively) at the top of the union ladders have agendas that have NOTHING to do with ethical, moral employment standards.

The majority of small business owners care deeply about their employees - going to great lengths to not only preserve their own source of income, but that of every person who works for/with them.

In a perfect world, every individual would be able to see his/her undeniable connection to every other individual on the planet - what benefits one, benefits ALL! I guess we are just not there yet.

Although your letter has to do with your personal experience re: unions/lawyers/bargaining bodies, the ramifications go far beyond the immediate!... See More

That is sad, because the entire country - "the best place in the world to live" - stands in jeopardy of becoming just another war zone on the world map!

Can't happen? Oh yes, it can!! As long as good people are forced to accommodate the lowest common denominator, it is inevitable.

My heart is with you, and you are loved!