Labour Unions: Union Can’t Broaden Certification Application to Make It Province-Wide

In June 2019, a union applied for certification to represent the 2 employees doing plumbing, pipefitting, pipe welding, instrumentation and sprinkler fitting work at a wastewater treatment site in Gander. Nine months later, the union asked permission to amend the application to cover all such employees in the province. The Newfoundland Labour Relations Board unanimously rejected the request because, among other reasons, the employer relied on the initial description of the bargaining unit in its business planning. The court found the Board’s ruling reasonable and rejected the appeal, while also ordering the union to pay the employer’s legal costs [United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local 740 v. Filtrum Inc., 2022 NLSC 1 (CanLII), January 6, 2022].