Update From The Building Union of Canada
Tuesday August 13, 2013
Wednesday July 31, 2013:
The BUC Executives, with their lawyer, attended a pre-hearing at the Labour Board on Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Tom Galivan (Organizing Director) from the SEIU, Local 2 and three Representatives from McMaster also attended this pre-hearing. The purpose of this meeting was to explore if any of the outstanding issues regarding your vote could be resolved before the actual hearing took place on Tuesday, August 6 and Wednesday, August 7, 2013. At the end of that meeting there were three outstanding issues to be argued at the hearing:
• Was the Building Union of Canada’s application to rescue you from the SEIU timely?
• Did the Building Union of Canada have enough support from you to file our application?
• The Building Union of Canada had to convince the Labour Board to count your ballots and let your true wishes and democratic voice be heard.
At this meeting a Labour Board Officer, Bob Wright, SEIU, McMaster and The Building Union of Canada all agreed there would be no witnesses called, there would be no new evidence called and that it wouldn’t take more than one day for all three parties to make their arguments and bring conclusion to this case. The Labour Board Officer, Bob Wright, who is appointed by the Labour Board, was a witness to this agreement amongst all three parties. Based on this agreement The Building Union of Canada agreed to cancel the one hearing date on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 because we all agreed the hearing would only take one day.
Wednesday August 7, 2013:
The official hearing in this matter took place on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 and was scheduled to start at 9:30am. There were four Representatives from McMaster in attendance. The Representatives from SEIU were Cameron Nelson (President of SEIU, Local 2), Ted Mansell (Executive Vice President of SEIU, Local 2) and David Bridger (Vice President of SEIU, Local 2).
Before the hearing started, Cameron Nelson informed us the SEIU were going to call witnesses in this hearing. Our attorney argued that at the pre-hearing meeting on Wednesday, July 31, 2013 the SEIU, McMaster and The BUC agreed, in the presence of Board Officer Bob Wright there were going to be no witnesses called for today’s hearing and no new evidence brought forward. Cameron Nelson stated that Tom Galivan (SEIU Organizing Director) claimed there was no agreement to that effect. McMaster also agreed with the SEIU that there was no such agreement. The McMaster Attorney, Cam Nelson from the SEIU and Stephen Bromell from The BUC had a discussion with the Board Officer, Bob Wright, who was witness to last Wednesday’s meeting. The Board Officer, Bob Wright, agreed with The BUC that there was an agreement between all three parties that no witnesses would be called, no new evidence would be called and the hearing wouldn’t take more than a day to complete.
When the hearing began, a three person panel issued an immediate decision that The BUC did have more than enough support to file our application. The BUC then made its argument in front of the three person panel appointed by the Labour Board that our application was timely. The three person panel will now decide whether we have made a strong enough argument and whether McMaster and SEIU need to put in their arguments.
The BUC thanks you for your strong support and we promise to keep fighting for your democratic rights so your voice will be heard. We also received 152 responses to our survey. Thank you for taking such an active role in helping us prepare for negotiations. We will get you the results of the survey shortly. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Stephen Bromell, Secretary Treasurer of The Building Union of Canada.
Cell: 416-708-2325
E-mail: sbromell@thebuc.ca
Thank You,,
Craig Bromell
President
The Building Union of Canada