The BC Labour Relations Board (BCLRB) determined aggressive and threatening lunchroom remarks have brought censure to an employer facing a union drive, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “While the employer portrays the comments as coming from a passionate and engaged employer, the comments are of a degree and nature that cannot be excused,” said BCLRB Vice-Chair Andres Barker in a ruling. Barker censured Waste Control Services. The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 115 sought to organize Waste Control’s 100 employees. Waste Control had been cited before for firing one union organizer and breaching the BC Labour Relations Code. Evidence from the latest complaint showed its owner appeared in a staff lunchroom in 2023 and began hectoring two employees. The remarks were secretly recorded. Some of the remarks included “You’re dead to me,” “Don’t say hello to me,” and “What did I do to deserve this.” It responded by saying the comments were cherrypicked and taken out of context. IUOE Local 115 argued the remarks were intended to frighten staff. “I agree with the union’s characterization of both the tone and purpose of the statements,” said Barker. At the time, the manager expressed shock at the employees’ desire to unionize, told one employee to quit, said he should have fired him a long time ago and told him he was dead to him. With these remarks, he said they displayed aggression and threats. He added the only plausible goal was “causing that employee psychological distress, which might rise to the level of inducing him to quit.”“Actions that are the subject of the present application are egregious on their own,” he said. “They are particularly troubling in the context of the prior Board declarations and orders against this employer.”Waste Control was ordered to pay IUOE Local 115’s legal costs. It was cited for breaching Section 6.1 of the Labour Relations Code by interfering with the formation, selection or administration of a union or seeking by intimidation, dismissal, threats of dismissal or other kinds of threats to persuade employees not to join one. This ordeal comes after a BC Ferries’ union boss was told to shut the f*ck up during negotiations over a 20% wage hike, according to a December 18 court filing for unfair labour practices put forward by it and Marine Workers’ Union (MWU).READ MORE: Legal filing says BC Ferries union boss told to ’just shut the eff up' in negotiationsBC Ferries’ Executive Director of Labour Relations Dean Dobrinsky shouted the explicit comment into a live camera during a Zoom meeting that took place in November to discuss wages and benefits with MWU representatives.MWU did not mince words when it filed the complaint.
