The Carpenters Union says a breach of privacy at the Labour Relations Board threatens to undermine the whole process of union organizing in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The NL Carpenters Union—Local 579 of the Atlantic Canada Regional Council of Carpenters, Millwrights and Allied Workers—says a group of workers at Grieg in Marystown expressed interest in being represented by a union. As part of the process, they were required to sign union cards.
(Privacy information bulletin, as provided by the NL Carpenters Union.)
They went to the Labour Relations Board but Local 597 of the Carpenters Union says the board then sent the information to the employer. Union official Mike Williams says that has never happened in their 71-year history in the labour movement.
He says there’s no trust or confidence right now in the labour board, something which he sees as a big problem.
NDP Calls Incident ‘Avoidable’
The NDP says the serious breach of privacy being experienced by Local 579 was avoidable.
Leader Alison Coffin says she was taken aback when she found out that the Labour Relations Board released signed union cards to an employer. She calls it a “trust-breaking mistake.”
Coffin says, for years, the NDP has been calling for card-check certification to be re-instated in the province to avoid situations like this.
Situation Demands Investigation: PCs
(Ches Crosbie, file photo.)
The PC party is calling for an investigation following the privacy breach allegations.
Party leader Ches Crosbie says the certification process was “corrupted and undermined” according to the complaint filed by the Carpenters Union. Now, he says, he’s heard that workers are fearing reprisals.
Crosbie questions how such a serious breach could have occurred, saying the situation demands an investigation to restore public confidence.
