CANADIAN LABOUR-BURNABY BC:

EXCUSED FROM THE LAW ?:

It was the writer Anatole France who once said, The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal bread.". It seems, however, that many Canadian employers are not content with such "majestic equality". It takes a certain amount of unequalled gall to apply to the courts or the government for "exemptions to the law", especially as it is almost certain that such applicants are very much staunch supporters of "law and order" in other venues- as long as it doesn't apply to them of course.

Molly has already commented on the arrogance of Air Canada in its application to the federal government (happily refused) to be exempted from labour law in their handling of the closure of flight attendant bases in Halifax and Winnipeg. Out on the west coast, in Burnaby B.C. another such example has recently surfaced. Gateway Casino Inc. has applied to the B.C. Labour Board for a exemption to the constitutional right of some of their employees to join an union. Here's the story from the website of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU). Love that "law and order" crowd.

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Burnaby casino wants to suspend workers' constitutional right to join a union:
A Burnaby casino owned by Australian interests wants to suspend its workers' rights to join a union until February of next year.

Gateway Casino Inc. has applied to the B.C. Labour Relations Board (LRB) to extinguish the constitutional right to unionize for about 200 of the casino's 500 employees who haven't already voted on joining the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union.

BCGEU president Darryl Walker says it's the latest move in an aggressive campaign launched by the casino-B.C.'s second largest with annual revenues of $177 million-to try and stop its employees from unionizing to improve pay and working conditions.

Earlier this month about 70 Gateway dealer and slot machine supervisors voted to join BCGEU. Originally, they cast their ballots in July 2007. But legal wrangling by the company delayed the count of their vote for a year.

Meanwhile, yesterday the LRB dismissed another legal challenge by Gateway which means that a similar vote of 225 dealers and slot machine attendants to join BCGEU can now finally be counted-nine months after their ballots were cast in October 2007.

"We're hoping that cooler heads will prevail within Gateway's management ranks," says Walker. "Instead of creating conflict and animosity, we're asking that the company sit down with us to talk about ways to improve wages and make the casino a better workplace for staff."

Walker says that in unique circumstances the LRB can impose a ban on union signups for a specified period. He's confident that the board will turn down Gateway's bid.

The company says the "strain" resulting from all the legal proceedings it's involved in against its employees' unionization effort plus the opening of a new casino complex in the fall "dictates [that the suspension of the right to join a union] would not be unreasonable." (cough, cough, cough-Molly)

B.C.'s casino industry generates $1.3 billion in annual revenue and produces huge profits that are carved up by casino owners and the provincial government. But Walker says casino workers are poorly paid and work long hours under stressful conditions. Gateway wages start at $8.75/hour and top out for the most experienced supervisor at just over $16/hour plus tips.