When Council 2 filed a petition on November 21 last year for 15 employees of the City of Vancouver to join the union, management’s response was immediate.
The employees say the City launched a campaign of retaliation and coercion against them. The employees work as assistant City Attorneys and support staff in the Attorneys Office.
Many employees say they received written reprimands, although none had ever had any disciplinary actions in their careers. They add that the City also changed their hours of work and canceled flextime.
“Management even changed one job description completely for an employee who had been working there for 12 years and they threatened to eliminate his existing position,” says Bill Keenan, Council 2’s Director of Organizing.
“People were followed into the parking lot after work and confronted about their knowledge of the union organizing campaign.”
In spite of the intimidation, the attorneys won their election February 4 by a card check, indicating that the support was so strong an election was not necessary.
Now the City is challenging the support staff’s petition. The challenge will be heard at a unit clarification hearing, tentatively scheduled for June 3, in front of the Public Employment Relations Commission.
Meanwhile, as a result of the retaliation, Council 2 filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint against the City of Vancouver and the Attorneys Office on April 17. In it, Council 2 demands that the employer stop the retaliation and coercion. It also asks the commission to order the City of Vancouver to remove and destroy all letters of discipline from the employees’ files, and to restore the previous conditions of employment.
That hearing is yet to be scheduled.
