On April 30th there was a hearing at the Quebec Labour Board where McGill University and Amuse each presented their case to the commissioner to determine if the floor fellow union should be accredited. To begin let's go over the unionization process step-by-step:
Step 1: Card Signing
Step 2: Verification
Currently we are at step 2, the verification stage. The point of contention between McGill and Amuse, which the Labour Board will rule on in about 3 weeks, is the list of employees at the time of the card collection (March 3rd). We only included the floor fellows who are currently hired for the 2013-2014 year, however McGill believes that the list should include this years floor fellows as well as the new hires for next year (2014-2015). They also believe that we should include the MacDonald Campus Floor fellows (there are only 5), which we have agreed to do.
So on Wednesday, at the hearing, McGill was arguing that all this year and next year floor fellows should be on the list, while the PSAC (union) lawyers were arguing that only this years floor fellows should be on that list. Here is a brief overview of each side's arguments.
McGill:
PSAC and Amuse:
Also:
Ria Rombough was called as a witness by McGill, and she was asked many questions by both the McGill lawyer and the PSAC lawyers. Basically, she went over the structure of Rez Life in great detail, along with the timeline and method of hiring new hires. She didn't say anything contentious, it was all stuff that we know and have heard before.
Why is this list of employees important?
We cannot be accredited as a union until McGill verifies that the list we have presented is an accurate representation of the work conditions and employees as of the date we handed in our union cards (March 3rd 2014). If the Labour Board decides to include the new hires on our list of employees it means we will have only had 30% of "Yes" cards collected and would have to take it to a referendum vote. However, if the Labour Board decides that we do not need to include the new hires then we will be accredited and can move on to step 3, bargaining. Whether or not the MacDonald Floor fellows are included will not effect this particular concern (our accreditation) since there are only 5, however including them in our union will require some further coordination with them as to how to include them in our collective agreement.
We will hear about the final decision in about 3 weeks.
Step 1: Card Signing
- Cards are distributed which are signed by those in support of unionizing. Signed cards, along with a $2 fee are submitted by a set date (in this case it was March 3rd, 2014).
Step 2: Verification
- The cards are sent directly to the Quebec Labour Board for verification. They are the only people who ever know who did, or did not, sign a card. They contact McGill to obtain our names and information so as to cross-reference to ensure there was no fraud. If McGill provides the information without delay, the process will take about 5 weeks.
- If 50%+1 (or more) is reached we proceed to step 3 (bargaining).
- If 30-50% is reached The Labour Board conducts a mandatory vote of all floor fellows. If this vote results in 50% + 1 approval for unionization, proceed to step 3.
- If less than 30% is reached, our attempt to unionize stops here.
- At this point, we would become certified and then enter into negotiations with McGill to come up with a collective agreement.
Currently we are at step 2, the verification stage. The point of contention between McGill and Amuse, which the Labour Board will rule on in about 3 weeks, is the list of employees at the time of the card collection (March 3rd). We only included the floor fellows who are currently hired for the 2013-2014 year, however McGill believes that the list should include this years floor fellows as well as the new hires for next year (2014-2015). They also believe that we should include the MacDonald Campus Floor fellows (there are only 5), which we have agreed to do.
So on Wednesday, at the hearing, McGill was arguing that all this year and next year floor fellows should be on the list, while the PSAC (union) lawyers were arguing that only this years floor fellows should be on that list. Here is a brief overview of each side's arguments.
McGill:
- The new hires should be considered employees as of March 3rd because they were included in an email listserve sent out by Ria Rombough at that time.
- Because the number of people who are hired in the spring but decide not to begin work in August is so low (0-2 per year) it demonstrates how committed new hires are as floor fellow employees.
- Morally, it would be unjust to exclude next year's hires since they will be directly affected by being apart of the union.
PSAC and Amuse:
- They established that our payment was solely with room and board. They then established that new hires would not receive this payment until August 13 2014, therefore they are not considered employees until then (until they receive renumeration).
- They cited a lot of parts of Quebec Labour law and precedents which further proved that, as of March 3rd 2014, the new hires were not officially employees and therefore should not included on the list.
Also:
Ria Rombough was called as a witness by McGill, and she was asked many questions by both the McGill lawyer and the PSAC lawyers. Basically, she went over the structure of Rez Life in great detail, along with the timeline and method of hiring new hires. She didn't say anything contentious, it was all stuff that we know and have heard before.
Why is this list of employees important?
We cannot be accredited as a union until McGill verifies that the list we have presented is an accurate representation of the work conditions and employees as of the date we handed in our union cards (March 3rd 2014). If the Labour Board decides to include the new hires on our list of employees it means we will have only had 30% of "Yes" cards collected and would have to take it to a referendum vote. However, if the Labour Board decides that we do not need to include the new hires then we will be accredited and can move on to step 3, bargaining. Whether or not the MacDonald Floor fellows are included will not effect this particular concern (our accreditation) since there are only 5, however including them in our union will require some further coordination with them as to how to include them in our collective agreement.
We will hear about the final decision in about 3 weeks.