Some people still believe that unions have outlived their usefulness. This story would indicate otherwise.
Doug Blender, general manager of Rempel Bros. Concrete Ltd., a “fiercely non-union company” by his own account, decided to take union organizing into his own hands to try to stave off anymore organizing drives by the B.C. Teamsters and Operating Engineers unions. He decided that the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) was a much better fit for the employees and the company. But his plan backfired.
Blender wrote a memo to his employees on March 26:
Rempel and Challenge [a company division] have always been fiercely non-union companies. There have been eight attempts by unions over the last 20 years to unionize Rempel…
My concern is that one of these times you and I will not be successful in spite of our best efforts and end up with our employees being represented by a union that I don’t believe may share [sic] our mutual values…Rempel needs a union that can fairly represent the employees without a confrontational style…We desire a union that does not force an employee to join their union…
Had we opened up this process to the employees within days of announcing our plans, any number of complications could have arisen. To avoid this, I made a decision to negotiate a first collective agreement…
Once again, let me sincerely apologize to all those employees who felt their trust in me had been misguided. I firmly believe this path I have taken is the right one and I encourage you to carefully consider my comments when you vote next Tuesday morning.
CLAC is seen by traditional unions as an employer-accommodating labour association (see sidebar).
Rempel, with 132 employees in 8 locations in Metro Vancouver, is a subsidiary of the Lehigh Inland group of companies, which, in turn is owned by Lehigh Cement. Rempel employs mixer truck drivers, pump operators, maintenance staff, plant operators and mechanics, according to Operating Engineers organizer Rob Duff.
Workers were called to a special meeting on March 23, knowing only that the GM wanted to present information about “significant changes” about the “competitive aspect of our business.”
Doug Fisher, 47 and a mixer truck operator for Rempel Bros. Concrete Ltd. since 1987, passed up a family dinner celebrating his birthday to come to Blender’s meeting. As he listened to the presentation, he realized that the day before the meeting he would have told anyone that there was “zero chance” of success that his company would ever be unionized.
“You can’t imagine the surprise in that room,” he said. “I couldn’t believe what was happening.” Then, he said, “I looked around the room and thought, these people are going to buy it…It scared the hell out of me. In a few days we were going to be CLAC! We had to do something fast—very fast.”
Fisher acknowledged that there had been previous union organizing drives and that he was “partially responsible” for some of them. Fisher said, “This is a great company to work for. It’s been steady and very diverse. There’s lots of variety and opportunities to advance. It’s worked out very well for me and allowed my wife to stay home and raise our kids. And there’s not a lot of stress.”
However, he added, “I could see the corporate changes and I knew this was coming. I wanted to prevent it and to protect ourselves. We have a great package and we want to keep it.”
An organizing attempt by the Operating Engineers, in 2005, failed in the final vote. “And the reason it failed,” he said, “is because people thought it [Rempel] was still a family. And it was a family business until it was sold several years ago. The general manager [Bob Fairbank at that time] played that [we’re a family] card and won. I didn’t like the methodology, but he played the emotional card and he won.”
The Teamsters made another attempt in 2008. It was around the time that the economy collapsed. “We backed away because a lot of people were going to be hurt [by the declining economy],” said Lyle Kent, organizer for Local 213, “but we built great relationships with people there.”
William Rolleman, a concrete pump operator with the company since 1994, said he was also involved in recent organizing drives and thought the results would have been better. “I call it the Rempel bubble,” he said. “They [the employees] have been moulded for many years” to accept that what’s best for the company is also best for its workers.
Sometime earlier this year, Blender met with CLAC. Even other company staff reportedly had no idea about the arrangements until a few hours before the meeting with employees, according to mixer truck driver Peter Trueman. Trueman, 42, started working for the company in 1984.
When asked to comment on the situation for this article, Blender said, “Nope. Not interested in it at all.”
Jim Derkatch, the president of Lehigh Inland and Blender’s supervisor, was also at the meeting. He did not return phone calls.
Rolleman said Blender announced that a five-year agreement had been reached with a 5% increase in each of the first two years. He also announced that the workers would be asked to vote in favour of the contract in two days and he introduced their new CLAC representative.
Tony van Hengel, regional director of CLAC, told this reporter that there were a number of representatives at the meeting. Then, strangely, his cell phone went dead and he would not return further phone calls.
“Our mouths dropped to the floor,” recounted Trueman. “I’m not sure why they did it,” he said. “There was probably an agenda we were not privy to. Maybe it was to go after work they haven’t been able to bid on.”
Trueman said that Blender told them that having a CLAC agreement would be “a great change and direction for the company.”
Local 115 organizer Duff said Blender also told the employees that if they didn’t vote in favour of CLAC and the agreement, they wouldn’t get the promised raises.
Fisher said, “The company did a good job of building trust. [Now] that trust was being leveraged against the workers. I couldn’t accept it. Somebody had to do something and I did. If someone doesn’t stand up, you’re stuck with it. And that’s the position I found myself in on my birthday…A couple of us stood up and challenged them and asked for a few more days to consider the offer.
“What bothered me the most and what was most distressing,” Fisher said, “was that the company said, ‘If you don’t like the CLAC, you can get rid of them after a year.’ I’ve done the research. It’s not difficult; it’s damn near impossible!”
Rolleman knew a fair amount about CLAC as well. He went up to the CLAC rep at the meeting to offer advice. “I told him, ‘You might get a little respect if you organized from the bottom up like other unions do.’”
Now the company had given the pro-union employees the catalyst they needed to launch their own union drive.
Rolleman noted that the company always said it was “on-side, but…I’m not naïve. I’m always looking forward.” He said he also felt some indebtedness to the work of the traditional unions. “We have good packages because of the unions and even the company has said this. Maybe it was time to pay the piper.”
As soon as the meeting ended, Fisher and Rolleman called the Operating Engineers. A day or two later, a member from the Coquitlam plant called Lyle Kent from the Teamsters. Recognizing interest in representation from both unions, staff from the Teamsters and Operating Engineers decided to work together to assist the employees’ organizing drive.
Trueman said he’d heard the name CLAC before but he decided he needed to do some homework.
“I have friends who are affiliated with them and I called them and they said, ‘Stay away from them.’
“I went to the computer and found out a lot about it. What really shocked me was that…it’s known as ‘the management union’ and the company [Rempel, rather than the employees] approached it and there must have been a reason. It was looking out for its best interests. I knew it wasn’t the way to go.”
Fisher, Rolleman and Trueman also looked over the contract.
“It was garbage,” Fisher said.
He takes further umbrage with CLAC’s name. “It’s such a discredit that Christian is even in the name…It’s always bothered me that they don’t watch out for the worker,” he said. “They say they’ll represent us, but they’d been working for months with the company beforehand to work out a deal.”
The three called an emergency meeting. “We ended up meeting the next night,” Fisher said. “With just four hours notice, we had 12 guys from 4 [company] locations.” Staff from the Operating Engineers were also able to attend.
Rolleman said the Rempel employees stressed that they knew their fellow employees best and wanted to lead the campaign and make the key decisions. Nonetheless, they greatly appreciated the assistance from union staff. Organizing drives often take months. These workers had just four days to get enough cards (45% plus 1) signed to file an application with the LRB to be represented by the unions of their choice. The work had to be completed before March 30 when the CLAC vote would be held.
As that first organizing meeting drew to a close, Fisher said, “we all signed cards and took another handful each.”
During the card-signing blitz, Trueman said he discovered that Blender’s actions offended some employees who didn’t want any union representation—Operating Engineers, Teamsters or CLAC. “Some people didn’t want change. They feared any unions, even CLAC.”
On March 29, in another attempt to stop the organizing drive, Blender sent another memo:
As you all know, the company and CLAC have signed a ‘voluntary recognition’ collective agreement…
This vote is going ahead as scheduled and it will not be cancelled or ‘blocked’…
Some of you may be confused by what is going on, so I am writing to clarify some things…
If you do not want CLAC or if you do not want to ratify the collective agreement, you do not have to sign an OE card.…Of course, the company and CLAC would like you to vote ‘yes’ so we can implement a new collective agreement and get on with business…
In the company’s opinion, the best option is to vote ‘yes’ on Tuesday morning…
Many large companies such as Kiewit, PCL, Ledcor and others have gone this route and it has been very successful for the employers and employees.
On March 30, the vote on the CLAC agreement went ahead. CLAC and the company needed a simple majority. It was a squeaker: 126 voted, with 61 in favour of joining CLAC and 65 against.
Blender reported the results to the employees that day and offered a little editorial comment. He noted that, “This means the company cannot legally implement the collective agreement,” which everyone interpreted as meaning that the April 1st raise of 5% would not be forthcoming. They were right.
Blender also provided a glimmer of hope (from his perspective).
The LRB [B.C. Labour Relations Board] will hold a vote next week to see if a majority of Rempel employees support those two unions [the Operating Engineers and Teamsters]. There is also a possibility that CLAC could be added to the LRB ballot in what is called a ‘run off vote’ but we do not know that yet.
I will keep you informed of developments.
With so much at stake, the company filed a challenge with the LRB on April 1. It objected to the two unions saying they were acting as a poly party but using separate Teamster and Operating Engineer union cards. The company said employees should have been asked to sign poly party cards carrying the names of both unions.
On April 6, Bender again wrote to the employees:
Traditional unions tear away at company-worker relationships, new age unions encourage strong relationships between employees, the union and the company.
Think carefully about what is currently happening, but more importantly think about your future at Rempel.
That same day, the poly party unions filed an Unfair Labour Practices (ULP) complaint with the LRB objecting to the company trying to prevent employees from selecting a union of their choice and refusing to provide the April 1 wage increase.
On April 8, employees voted on whether they wanted to become members of the poly party unions. A decision on whether an individual chose Local 213 or Local 115, specifically, would be decided later.
However, the ballots couldn’t be counted immediately. The ballot box was sealed and sent to the LRB until the company’s April 1 challenge was dealt with.
On April 12, the company filed its own ULP against the poly party saying the unions were using coercion and intimidation. The unions were flabbergasted. True, they had representatives sitting in cars in the parking lot keeping a close eye on the company’s work yards. But that was because of the pressure tactics that the company had used in previous organizing drives. Remarks from a union official wishing good luck to a couple of company mechanics were provided as evidence of coercion.
The company “was grasping at straws,” Duff said.
On April 22, LRB registrar Allison Matacheskie dismissed the company’s challenge of April 1. (The ULPs from the company and poly party unions are still outstanding.)
As a result of the LRB decision, the ballot box was opened that same day and the poly party certification vote was counted. This time, two more people voted (128) but the results showed there was little change in opinions—67 in favour of poly party union representation and 61 opposed.
The traditional unions had won the battle, but there was no victory dance. The results were sobering and sent a clear message that there was still a lot of work to be done.
Rolleman showed up to work the following morning and was met by a fellow employee, who did not vote in favour of union representation and who said, “I was expecting picket signs today.” Rolleman was shocked and explained that unions don’t call strikes at will and for no reason. “We crossed one hurdle but now we have to train management and a good part of the workforce,” he said.
“There are a lot who don’t support this,” admitted Duff, “and we have to mend fences. They [those who voted against] had a perception that we were going to kick in the door. But that’s not what unions are about. It’s about representation. We have to prove ourselves to the non-supporters. But we stand behind what we do and time heals all wounds.”
“On the very first day back, it was a very divided workplace,” Fisher agreed. “But democracy has spoken. It’s a done deal. Let’s just do the best we can and get on with it.”
He also predicted “it won’t be as dark as people think…People will still be doing what they do. I think they’ll look back and say ‘That wasn’t so bad.’”
Rolleman said he is also trying to rebuild relationships with company managers. “It’s still a good company and I’ve tried to get management to understand that you don’t have 30-plus year employees if there aren’t good things” being done.
Trueman attributed the anxiety immediately after the announcement of the vote to “just a big fear of the unknown.” He emphasized, “We’re all here to do a job and for our company to make a profit.” Not yet finished a 14-hour shift, he added that union representation will be “a great change for this company…If my boys [aged 11 and 14] go into this trade, it will be better for them.”
“The underdogs triumphed here,” Fisher said. “It was workers standing together.”
Rolleman, Fisher and Trueman have nothing but praise and respect for the representatives of the two unions. “We wanted control and we kept it,” Fisher said. “We’re grateful the unions did that. It was done clean.”
“We don’t yell or scream,” explained Teamster organizer Kent. “We just get the job done without hurting anybody. It wasn’t about hurting the company or doing any damage. It was about the company going in a direction without consulting the workers. We just went quietly about our business and they [the workers] liked our professional attitude.”
The employees are now working with the company to come up with their first collective agreement.
Fisher kept a careful diary of the past several months and is now writing a book. The working title is “A Textbook Certification.” He summed up the events by saying, “It’s beyond amazing. It’s a miracle.”
Leslie Dyson
Recent Comments