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Rejects B.C. Labour Relations Board ruling involving anti-union practices during construction of the Canada Line rapid transit link.
Victoria (16 June 2009) - The British Columbia Supreme Court has overturned a B.C. Labour Relations Board (BCLRB) decision, declaring it to be biased.
The case involved temporary foreign workers employed in the construction of the Canada Line, a 19-kilometre transit line to connect downtown Vancouver with Richmond and the Vancouver airport.
In 2006, the Construction and Specialized Workers’ Union (CSWU) launched a series of unfair labour practice complaints against Canada Line employers, SELI Canada and SNC-Lavalin Constructors Pacific. The employer discouraged workers from being members of the union and frustrated the collective bargaining process, the union said.
In the original BCLRB decision, vice-chair Philip Topalian rejected the union’s application for an interim order prohibiting the employers' anti-union activities.
“In conclusion, having found actual bias, I order the decision of the board, which includes the decision of the original panel and the reconsideration panel, quashed,” Supreme Court Justice Paul Walker wrote in overturning the ruling. “It is vital for labour relations in this province that the board’s processes be viewed as impartial and procedurally fair.”
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More information:
Construction & Specialized Workers’ Union, Local 1611
v. British Columbia Labour Relations Board