Career Advice

PART XVII – UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES

Discrimination

• A person who discriminates against any person with respect to the employment or conditions of employment because that other person is a member or an officer of a trade union is guilty of unfair labour practice.
• A person who seeks by intimidation, dismissal, threat of dismissal, or by any kind of threat or by imposition of a penalty, or giving or offering to give a wage increase or any other favourable alteration of terms of employment, or by any other means, seeks to induce a worker to refrain from becoming or continuing to be a member or officer of a trade union is guilty of unfair labour practice.
• A worker or group of workers who by any kind of threat seeks to intimidate the employer during negotiations of a collective agreement is guilty of unfair labour practice.
• Employers or employer’s organizations who seek by any kind of threat to intimidate the worker during negotiations of a collective agreement are guilty of unfair labour practice.

Interference by employers in union affairs
An employer who takes part in the formation of a trade union or, with the intention of adversely influencing a trade union, makes any contribution, in money or money’s worth, to that trade union, is guilty of unfair labour practice.

Employer to facilitate workers trade union business
An employer shall, subject to notice of not less than twenty four hours, allow any officer of a trade union whose members include any of his or her workers, reasonable facilities and time to confer with the employer or workers on matters affecting the members of the trade union who are his or her workers and an employer who fails to give reasonable facilities and time is guilty of unfair labour practice.
In this section” reasonable facilities” means such facilities as the employer and his or her workers may agree are reasonably required for the purposes stated in subsection (1).

Interference that causes financial loss
Subject to the other provisions of this Act, if a worker carries on any activity intended to cause serious interference with the business of his or her employer that may result in financial loss, the worker is guilty of unfair labour practice.

Union activities during working hours

• An officer of a trade union or any other person shall not during normal working hours attempt to persuade or induce a worker, not covered by a collective agreement, to become a member or an officer of a trade union while the worker is on the premises of his or her employer, without the consent of the employer.    
• An officer of a trade union or any other person shall not during normal working hours confer with an employee on trade union matters while the worker is on the premises of his or her employer without the consent of the employer.
• A person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) is guilty of unfair labour practice.

Complaints
The Commission shall enquire into and determine complaints of unfair labour practices brought before it in accordance with its rules of procedure.

Commission to make orders
Where the Commission finds that a person has engaged in an unfair labour practice it may, if it considers fit, make an order forbidding the person to engage or continue to engage in such activities as it may specify in the order.
Where the Commission finds that a person has engaged in an unfair labour practice under section 127 which involves the termination of employment or of the conditions of his or her employment, the Commission may, if it considers fit, make an order requiring the worker’s employer.

• to take such steps as may be specified in the order to restore the position of the worker; and
• to pay to the worker a sum specified in the order as compensation for any loss of earnings attributed to the contravention.

Where the Commission finds that a person has engaged in an unfair labour practice under section 128 by making a contribution to a trade union, the Commission may, if it considers fit, order that the trade union refund the contribution.
For the purposes of enforcing an order of the Commission under this section, the order shall have effect as if it were made by the High Court.

Appeals
A person aggrieved by an order, direction or decision made or given by the Commission under section 133 may, within fourteen days of the making or giving of the order, direction or decision, appeal to the Court of Appeal.