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Canadian Law of Work Forum (CLWF)
Law of Work Archive

U.S. Retail Employers Fear Obama and Unions

by David Doorey October 31, 2008
written by David Doorey October 31, 2008

I noted in an eariler posting that Wal-Mart had been accused of holding mandatory employee meetings (captive audience meetings) to warn employees that voting Democrat could be bad for their employment prospects.  The reason is that Obama has pledged support for the Employee Free Choice Act.  Professor Hirsch contributed a Guest Blog on that legislation earlier.  A main component of the legislation is the re-introduction of union certification by card-check rather than mandatory ballot.  Non-union employers–such as most of the retail sector–fear this will make them more susceptible to union organizing.
The Wall Street Journal now reports that more retail employers in the U.S. are warning employees of ‘economic pain’ if the Democrats win.   Three American labour law scholars (McCormick, Hart, Secunda) recently commented on the use of captive audience meetings to try to influence employees to reject the Democrats in an article in the Legal Times. I have commented before that I would find it repugnant and condescending if my employer forced me to attend a meeting to persuade me to vote for a particular political party, but that it is not at all clear to me that an employer in Canada would violate any law by doing so.
(I’m no expert on election laws, so I did a quick search of the Canada Elections Act and the FAQ government website to try and learn if that legislation bans employers from this sort of behavior, since I have doubts that any employment laws do.  While the question of whether an employer can hold employee captive audience meetings to influence employee voting was not one of the FAQs, this little nugget was there:  “Is someone allowed to eat a ballot?” Wow, I wonder how frequently that is a problem.)
Thanks to Workplace Law Prof Blog for the American articles.

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David Doorey

Professor Doorey is an Associate Professor of Work Law and Industrial Relations at York University. He is the Director of the School of HRM at York and Director of Osgoode Hall Law School’s executive LLM Program in Labour and Employment Law and on the Advisory Board of the Osgoode Certificate program in Labour Law. He is a Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program and a member of the International Advisory Committee on Harvard University’s Clean Slate Project, which is re-imaging labor law for the 21st century

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@SCLSclinic and I were so fortunate to represent this client last year. I am thrilled that this decision brings more clarity for family status accommodations rights amidst a pandemic that has tested parents, caregivers, and families like never before. https://twitter.com/CanLawWorkForum/status/1364605259071561730

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TheLawofWorkDavid J. Doorey@TheLawofWork·
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Here's my latest in @jacobinmag.

If Ontario's labor laws applied in Alabama, the Amazon vote would have been held months ago so workers could get back to their jobs. Instead, the NLRA permits Amazon to conduct a months' long onslaught of anti-union propaganda. https://twitter.com/jacobinmag/status/1364613560425275392

Jacobin@jacobinmag

Amazon workers in Alabama are voting on whether to unionize, but the company is bombarding them with anti-union propaganda. In Canada, by contrast, votes are held quickly, making it harder for companies to stack the deck — a model that can work in the US. http://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/amazon-alabama-canada-labor-law-union-vote

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CanLawWorkForumCLWF@CanLawWorkForum·
24 Feb

New from @RSandill (counsel for applicant), discussing important new "family status" discrimination decision from OHRT:

"Kovintharajah v. Paragon Linen & Laundry: When Failure to Accommodate Child Care Needs is “Family Status” Discrimination"

https://lawofwork.ca/13360-2/

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