MFL Brief Presented to Manitoba Cabinet

Change in certification process among topics discussed.

On December 3, the Manitoba Federation of Labour presented its Annual Brief to the Cabinet of the Manitoba Government. As is usually the case, this year's Brief was far ranging covering many topics of interest to the MFL.

One of those topics was the Manitoba Labour Relations Act. The MFL presented the case that one aspect of it that is out of step with much of the rest of the country is the threshold for automatic certification based on signed union cards. At one time, the Manitoba threshold was 55 per cent of the potential bargaining unit's membership. In the early '90s, the Conservatives copied right-to-work style legislation from other jurisdictions and did away with automatic certifications, no matter how many workers in the potential bargaining unit indicated their wish for a union by signing union cards.

The current government repealed many of the measures enacted by the previous government, including mandatory votes attached to every union application for certification - but the automatic certification threshold was set at 65 per cent of the potential members, not the long-standing Manitoba measure of 55 per cent.

The most recent survey of jurisdictions on this matter shows that federal legislation, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan all grant automatic certification if more than 50 per cent of the potential members sign union cards. The MFL brief requests that the automatic certification level in Manitoba also be set at 50 per cent plus one vote.

Other topics addressed in the brief include the Essential Services Act, minimum wage, Construction Industry Wages Act, apprenticeship, aboriginal workforce, workers compensation, public private partnerships, violence against women, child abuse, the proposed Security and Prosperity Partnership, and much more. If you want more, you can download the full Brief to Cabinet in PDF format