RE: telus loses appeal in Federal Court Merry Christmas Red....
Court upholds CIRB decisions that included former ClearNET employees in TWU bargaining unit
Former ClearNET employees are included in the TWU's bargaining unit for TELUS, confirmed the Federal Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision released December 17.
TELUS had asked the Court to overturn two Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) decisions: the 2001 decision that included new employees in the single bargaining unit as TELUS expands eastward, and the 2004 decision that included former ClearNET employees in the TWU bargaining unit. A Judicial Review was held before three Federal Court of Appeal Justices in Toronto on October 4 and 5, 2004.
Justice Evans said, in his reasons for judgment, that the key question was: "When company A takes over company B, can the Board lawfully include the employees of company B in the bargaining unit to which the employees of company A belong, without first ascertaining and taking into account whether the employees of company B wish to be included in this or any other bargaining unit?"
TELUS argued that the CIRB's decisions were "patently unreasonable" because they didn't take into account the wishes of the new employees and the fitness of the TWU to represent them, and because they violated employees' rights under the Charter.
The Court was not persuaded and concluded that the CIRB was right when it considered the wishes of the new employees, not as members of a distinct group, but as members of the entire employee group of TELUS. The Court decided that the CIRB was not "patently unreasonable" because including the new employees would not erode support for the TWU by a majority of bargaining unit employees.
The Court also concluded the employees' rights were not violated under the Charter.
As to the TWU's fitness, the Court decided that the CIRB was right in concluding that the majority of the members of the expanded bargaining unit are the ones who should decide the fitness of the TWU to represent them.
The Court also recognized that corporate mergers and takeovers are not unfamiliar business phenomena. They stated, "a unilateral change of employer can have many unwelcome consequences for employees, including job losses, employment restructuring and relocation."