Fired worker ordered rehired by labour board
Workers at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Calgary are the newest members of United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW), Local 401 after winning a major victory at the Alberta Labour Relations Board on April 27.
During the organizing campaign, managers at the hotel fired union supporter Aaron Doncaster, but for the first time in 30 years, the Alberta Labour Relations Board ordered that workers facing illegal employer actions can have their union – in this case, UFCW Canada Local 401, said the union.
According to Doncaster and Joe Irving, UFCW 401 organizer, workers at the hotel decided to join the union after experiencing mistreatment, favouritism, improper pay practices on overtime and tip calculations, health and safety concerns and a lack of dignity and respect from management, said UFCW.
Shortly after the campaign began, Doncaster was terminated. In a labour board complaint filed by UFCW Local 401, evidence showed that Doncaster had been illegally fired for his union activities and so the board offered him reinstatement with compensation, said the union.
“When an employer threatens the livelihood of workers for freely exercising their human rights, which includes the right to join a union, they are really making that decision for workers,” said Douglas O’Halloran, UFCW Local 401 president. “Employers should never decide whether workers have a union or not.”
