McBride village employees voting on unionization

The employees of McBride's local government have the go-ahead to vote on whether to become unionized.

A B.C. Labour Relations Board hearing Tuesday morning concluded enough village employees had signed a union card to meet the 50-per-cent-plus-one benchmark required to trigger the certification vote, said Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) spokesperson Ryan Bruce.

"I'm not going to talk about how many cards we had specifically, but that's the benchmark and we reached and exceeded that number," Bruce said.

CLAC applied for the certification Jan. 26 following a Jan. 23 information meeting in McBride. The vote will be conducted via mail-in ballots, which won't be counted until later this month when the hearing resumes from an adjournment necessitated by the village's legal counsel recently having a baby the day prior.

If the vote is successful, 10 village employees would become unionized.

"There are a lot of great employers out there and we work to build a solid relationship, but the reality is, unfortunately, there are times where there's not-so-great employers out there and they take matters into their own hands such as we've seen with McBride," said Bruce.

The certification application was part of a hearing also meant to address another submission from CLAC regarding an unfair labour practice complaint against McBride following the dismissal of a village employee.

Public works foreman John Aitken has said he received a phone call from McBride Mayor Loranne Martin on Jan. 24 informing him he was fired for attending the meeting.

"We had an evacuation order for McBride on Friday because of an ammonia leak at the arena and I was working through the night at the command centre to ensure that everyone got out safely," Aitken said in a press release. "The Saturday afternoon phone call came as a complete shock."

Aitken hasn't received any written acknowledgment of his dismissal, Bruce said, and is still on the payroll. Among the terms CLAC negotiated for the adjournment of the hearing was that Aitken would remain on the payroll until March 13 or the rescheduled hearing date.

"He's in limbo here and not sure where he's going," said Bruce. "We felt that would be fair to make sure he's got a means to support himself."

Under the Community Charter, a mayor can only suspend a municipal employee. When that suspension is reported at the next council meeting (which was held Jan. 26), council can vote to dismiss the employee, confirm or extend the suspension, or reinstate the employee.

Martin did not respond to a request for comment.

The right to unionize is also protected under the province's Labour Relations Code, said CLAC. Among the issues to be sorted out at the hearing will be whether Aitken is part of the village's bargaining unit or if he's in a management position.

"There is a certain measure and that's part of what will be heard at the board; hiring and firing capabilities is one of those," said Bruce. "He's not in that capacity to hire and fire people."