Impasse and immigration?

[OilerFan4Life]

Wetcoaster, you may have covered this in another thread, but what did you make of the comments by Graham Currie, spokesperson for the BC Ministry of Labour, about ten days back saying that the NHLPA was not a recognized union in BC? I keep hearing that they wouldn't be allowed to use replacement players in BC, but according to the Ministry that administers the act this isn't the case. Your thoughts?

There not a union. Just a Gestapo type military dictatorship with Adolf Goodenow and Joesph Saskin.

 

[vanlady]

Wetcoaster, you may have covered this in another thread, but what did you make of the comments by Graham Currie, spokesperson for the BC Ministry of Labour, about ten days back saying that the NHLPA was not a recognized union in BC? I keep hearing that they wouldn't be allowed to use replacement players in BC, but according to the Ministry that administers the act this isn't the case. Your thoughts?

Link please

Every report I have heard from people in the ministery here in BC have contradicted that statement.

Graham Currie works for the Agriculture ministry, not the Labor ministry.

OOpps sorry after a seach of the employee database there is a Graham Currie in public relations for Labor

He did not say they were not a recognized union he said they were not a certified union. Here is the definition of a trade union in BC

"trade union" means a local or Provincial organization or association of employees, or a local or Provincial branch of a national or international organization or association of employees in British Columbia, that has as one of its purposes the regulation in British Columbia of relations between employers and employees through collective bargaining, and includes an association or council of trade unions, but not an organization or association of employees that is dominated or influenced by an employer;

 

[Wetcoaster]

Wetcoaster, you may have covered this in another thread, but what did you make of the comments by Graham Currie, spokesperson for the BC Ministry of Labour, about ten days back saying that the NHLPA was not a recognized union in BC? I keep hearing that they wouldn't be allowed to use replacement players in BC, but according to the Ministry that administers the act this isn't the case. Your thoughts?

The problem is that many spokepersons are PR and communications types and not lawyers. They give answers that they think are correct but they do not have the expertise nor the knowledge to answer accurately where there is an exceptional situation as with this case. Labour law is extremely complex.

The NHLPA is not certified but it is recognized as a union as defined under the Labour Code. There is some conflicting opinion on whether or not the Habs and Canucks would have to hold a certification vote as a bargaining unit in order for the ban on replacement players to be in place. IMHO they would not and replacement players would be banned because the Labour Code has an exception that i have explained below.

In the 1994 MLB dispute the Expos could not use replacement players in Quebec and the law has not changed since then.

Also the provincial labour codes have an exception to the certification of a bargaining unit requirement where a union has previously negotiated a CBA on behalf of that bargaining unit and they have operated under that CBA. Here is an explanation in plain English from the BC LRB website explaining the Labour Code:

Even where a union has not sought certification under the Code, an employer may agree to acknowledge the union as bargaining agent for the employees and to conclude a collective agreement with the union. This is called voluntary recognition. In such cases the union will normally have the same rights and be subject to the same obligations under the Code as a certified union. The Board, however, must be satisfied that the voluntary recognition has been approved by the employees affected.

http://www.lrb.bc.ca/codeguide/chapter1.htm

The NHL has previously concluded several CBA's with the NHLPA as the bargaining agent for the Canucks players so they have voluntarily recognized the NHLPA and the NHLPA now has the same rights and obligations (including the replacement worker ban) as if they union was in fact certified. I do not think there could be any argument that the Canucks players did not approve the voluntary recognition in the past having been NHLPA members at the time of the CBA signings.

Several labour lawyers I have spoken with (management and union) claim that is sufficient to prevent replacement players being used in BC or Quebec. There is legislation pending in Ontario to re-enact the ban on replacement players that was in force in the past and prevented the Jays from playing scab ball in Ontario in 1994.

Even if certification of the particular teams as a bargaining unit were required it is a very simple procedure needing only 50% plus one of the members of the bargaining unit to file.

Interestingly it appears the NHL would have to file a similar type of application (called "accreditation" in BC) to be able to gain standing before the BC LRB. I would assume this is the case in other provincial jurisdictions as well.

 

[Cully9]

Link please

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=113552&hubName=



Quebec and B.C. do not allow for replacement workers, which some experts believe could prevent the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks from using replacement players. The teams could not play in, say, Hamilton and Seattle for a year, because they could easily be slapped with an unfair labour charge, says Craig.

However, Quebec labour ministry spokeswoman Michele Poirot says NHL players aren't covered under the province's labour code. Ditto in B.C., where the NHLPA isn't certified as a union, says provincial labour ministry spokesman Graham Currie.

 

[vanlady]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=113552&hubName=



Quebec and B.C. do not allow for replacement workers, which some experts believe could prevent the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks from using replacement players. The teams could not play in, say, Hamilton and Seattle for a year, because they could easily be slapped with an unfair labour charge, says Craig.

However, Quebec labour ministry spokeswoman Michele Poirot says NHL players aren't covered under the province's labour code. Ditto in B.C., where the NHLPA isn't certified as a union, says provincial labour ministry spokesman Graham Currie.

All the article says is the NHLPA is not cerified in BC, however as Wetcoaster has put so well above, the NHLPA falls under the voluntary recoginition section of the code.

 

[Cully9]

I'm simply providing the link that backs up the previous poster's comments.