Canada's labour legislation generally provides a strong defense for trade unions and their right to organize and represent workers. When a union proves that it has majority support among the workers of a company, a labour relations board usually certifies that union as the exclusive bargaining agent for all the workers of the company. Management is then required by law to recognize the union and bargain with it in good faith.

The union may strike and management may lockout only when negotiations reach a deadlock. Strikes and lockouts are prohibited during the term of a collective agreement. In certain jurisdictions, (e.g., health care, fire protection) strikes are outlawed for workers. Their disputes must be submitted to compulsory and binding arbitration. (It should be noted that laws in different provincial and federal jurisdictions vary considerably on this point).

Unions are permitted to carve out a bargaining unit from a larger workforce. However, this leaves the employer to deal with several unions and their collective agreements. Therefore, the most appropriate bargaining unit is generally defined by labour relations boards to encompass all employees of an employer in a municipality or other limited geographic area. This may mean that an employer who has operations in several locations may be dealing with a different union in each location. One, or more, of them may also be non-union.

Canadian labour relations is primarily a provincial affair. Under the country's federal system of government, each of the 10 provinces has jurisdiction over labour relations and trade union activity within its borders. The federal government, however, has jurisdiction over labour relations in the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Nunavut, as well as in companies that operate interprovincially or internationally (e.g., communications and transportation firms). The federal government also regulates its own public service sector.

Consequently, there are 11 separate labour codes (also called labour relations acts), each administered by its own labour relations board. The 11 jurisdictions are broadly similar but vary considerably in detail. (The Canadian system is unlike the one in the United States where the National Labor Relations Board regulates labour relations for the entire country.)

Construction Industry

In Canada's construction industry, most labour relations jurisdictions have adopted the craft union structure of the American Federation of Labour (AFL). These craft unions, though U.S.-based, operate on both sides of the border and attempt to control the building industry. This dominance is strong in the industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) sector but also in specialized sectors such as pipeline installation.

Historically, few unions have been able to challenge the dominant international craft unions, some 17 in all, who together act as the so-called Building Trades Council Unions (BTCU). They have developed a rigid system that aims to control workers and their employers and strives to maintain a monopoly over construction work, particularly in heavily industrialized and populated centres.

Many workers and others in the construction industry view the BTCU and its practices as outdated and self-serving. The BTCU ignores workers' freedom of association, acts so as to exclude others from access to work, and--typical of monopolies--is uncompetitive and lacks the innovation and flexibility to meet the challenges of the new economy. Unfortunately, much legislation continues to support the negative practices of the BTCU.

CLAC is the only credible alternative to the BTCU. Over the years, we have successfully fought long and hard to open the construction industry to more progressive and worker-oriented union representation. Today, in most jurisdictions, CLAC and its construction workers locals are available as an alternative for workers to the BTCU model of representation.

The CLAC model for organizing and representation in the construction industry features:

1. no hiring hall restrictions--the union has a voluntary employment service for members, but they are free to work where and for whom they choose;
2. all-employee (wall-to-wall) bargaining units, with all trades of an employer under one collective agreement, thus avoiding inter-trade jurisdictional disputes and work restrictions;
3. training in health and safety and necessary job skills, the provision of group insurance and pension plans, and more.

CLAC continues to urge governments and the industry for reform and more openness in the industry. The objective in these representations is to create full freedom of association for workers and open the industry to different ways of operating. Certainly, a monolithic, one-union model is uncompetitive and unresponsive to the needs of the industry and its workers.

Of course the presence of CLAC as a positive alternative for construction workers poses a threat to the control and power base of the BTCU. They have responded with negative publicity and disinformation about CLAC, unsuccessful legal challenges, threats, intimidation, and attempted jobsite disruptions.

None of these can stop a good thing. We see these BTCU actions as proof that we're on the right track in reforming trade union representation practices in the construction industry. After all, construction workers continue to join CLAC, recognizing it as a fair and honest representative of their interests.