A group of employees at Rainbow Concrete in Sudbury, Ontario are being ignored by the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) and the Ontario Minister of Labour.

The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 793, unionized the employees in 2006. Eventually a majority of the employees told the union and the Labour Board, many times that they did not want to be unionized. The Labour Board ignored the employees and never gave them any notice of the legal proceedings going on between the union and the employer at the Board.

The union went ahead with negotiations without a single employee on its bargaining committee.  Then the union asked the Labour Board to impose a collective agreement on the employees.  When the employees heard about this a large group of them showed up at the Labour Board hearing to have their voices heard at this "first contract arbitration" hearing on January 26, 2010.  At about the same time, their employer asked the Minister of Labour to schedule a "last offer vote" on the employer's last offer to the union bosses.  That vote was scheduled for February 5.   

At the hearing, the Board refused to hear the employees and told them they must file an intervener status application if they wanted to participate. That same day, the employees did exactly what the Vice Chair of the Board told them to do.  That was January 26, 2010 and the Board has ignored these employees ever since! 

The Board did not respond to the employee intervener request. Instead, the Board made a final decision to impose a collective agreement through "first contract arbitration" with no employee involvement!  This will force the employees to pay union dues and prevent them from asking for a union "decertification" vote to get rid of the union for at least two years.

To make things worse, the Minister cancelled the last offer vote the day before it was to take place.  Then the Minister asked the Board if they were right or wrong to cancel it!  The employees wrote to the Ministry of Labour but have been ignored by them also.

The employees sent letters to the Board.  They made phone calls to the Board.  They have made submissions about the legal issues affecting them when the Board has been making decisions BUT the Board only listens to the union and their employer and always rules in favour of the union.  Not once in over 6 months has the Board ever said yes or no or anything at all about the employee application.  It has not even acknowledged receipt of their application let alone any of their submissions.

The employees have been ignored by the Labour Board and denied their right to a fair hearing and natural justice.  The Board has a duty to process their application - it cannot simply ignore them.  In the meantime the Board has issued several decisions affecting their employment and rights.  This is shocking and must be challenged.

The employees are continuing their fight against the Ontario Labour Board and the Minister to ensure they are heard and to ensure that no other employees are treated so unfairly in the future. They are taking their fight to the courts to show the OLRB that they cannot ignore employees or deny them the right to be heard or their right to participate and have natural justice.  They will ask the court to order the Board and the Minister to do their jobs as required by law.

Please give generously for this potentially precedent setting case.