Employer Ordered to Stop Video Surveillance of Union Workers

Installing surveillance cameras monitoring the whereabouts of aeronautic parts plant employees throughout their shift was tough for the union to take, especially since the installation occurred during a prolonged and nasty strike and the cameras monitored only areas where union employees worked. The Québec arbitrator found that video surveillance of employees wasn’t “a fair and reasonable condition of work” under the Charter; and since the employer didn’t produce the evidence necessary to justify surveillance as a necessary security measure, the arbitrator ordered the employer to stop the surveillance immediately and remove the cameras and destroy the recordings within 10 days [UNIFOR, Local 1209 c Delastek Inc., 2021 CanLII 76896 (QC SAT), August 16, 2021].