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Collective Bargaining: Administration, Compliance and Enforcement

The Union opposes all forms of discrimination under any condition or term of employment, including hiring, promotion and lay-off.

Any collective bargaining agreement that by its terms or actual operation, permits discrimination based on and including race, color, religion, gender, nationality, age. citizenship or disability, is illegal. The Supreme Court, the lower courts, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of the United States and federal and provincial labour relations boards in Canada have held that it is a union’s legal duty as exclusive bargaining representative to represent every employee fairly and equally, and in such a manner that no discrimination results.

The Union’s policy against discrimination on the job and its legal duty to prevent discrimination applies to both the terms of a contract and the way it is administered in actual practice. A contract that is fair on its face, but is actually administered in a way that discriminates in any form, including race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability and citizenship by its terms or conditions of employment, violates Union policy and the law.

It is also our Union’s policy to negotiate promotional opportunities for employees that do not discriminate on the same aforementioned bases. Such provisions must be enforced through the appropriate procedure to protect employees who in actual practice may be discriminated against in regard to promotion and opportunity. Discrimination on the job in all forms is objectionable and illegal whether it is direct or indirect.

Our Union is committed to the protection and advancement of the civil and human rights of our members in the workplace through collective bargaining agreements and the union process. Our first effort is to obtain and enforce contract language that provides for:

·         A NON-DISCRIMINATION CLAUSE

·         A JOINT COMMITTEE ON CIVIL RIGHTS

·         WORKPLACE HARASSMENT AWARENESS AND PREVENTION

It is our policy that employees fully utilize the Union’s internal collective bargaining provisions and processes to seek redress for and prevent employment discrimination.

The law affords the Union the opportunity to administer and police an agreement even if no one charges a violation. Local Union officers, grievance, civil and human rights committee persons and members have an obligation to police employer action to insure that discrimination, segregation and other contract violations do not occur.

Even if an employer’s discrimination is not covered by the contract, the local union will not acquiesce to an employer's discrimination. The Union still has the right and duty to insist on compliance with the law.

It is important to mention that our Union's history in Civil and Human Rights marks major contributions toward the enactment of far-reaching anti-discrimination laws, including the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Canadian Human Rights Act of 1977 and other federal, state and provincial legislation that protects the rights of workers and all people.

To further implement our principles and the directives of the International Convention, each local union should, under the direction of the District Director with the aid of the International Civil Rights Department and Legal Department, study the company’s hiring and promotional policies and take immediate and corrective action where warranted.

These principles in opposition to discrimination must guide contract negotiations and control our conduct in the grievance procedure. If we cannot enforce these policies through the grievance procedure and our civil rights procedure due to inability to obtain company agreement, we have the right to seek help from the appropriate governmental agency to assist us in effectuating them.