I noted last week the efforts by the UFCW to organize employees of Target in New York. Round one is over. A vote was held and the workers at one store voted against unionization.
The UFCW has alleged that Target engaged in unlawful threats and intimidation, but the details of those complaints have not been reported yet. Target denies it broke the law in its resistance to the campaign. Apparently both the UFCW and Target have filed unfair labour practice complaints. One issue noted in the linked newspaper article is the practice of Target driving employees to the vote in a company-provided shuttle bus and providing other employees with free transit passes.
Do you think it would be an unlawful violation of Section 70 of the Ontario Labour Relations Act for an employer here to bus employees to a certification vote? Here’s what that section says:
No employer .. shall participate in or interfere with the formation, selection … of a trade union, but nothing in this section shall be deemed to deprive an employer of the employer’s freedom to express views so long as the employer does not use coercion, intimidation, threats, promises or undue influence.
This is likely to be an ongoing story, so we will keep an eye on developments.