Union decrying human rights abuse
Sylvie Paillard
[email protected]
Extra Foods employers are trampling on employees' human rights by suspending Squamish workers for leafleting outside the store on their own time, said a representative of the United Food Commercial Workers (UFCW) union.
"This is another example of the employer and this company dragging things down into the mud rather than taking the high road and sitting down with us and negotiating this agreement," said union rep Andy Neufeld.
Union reps said employers are using intimidation tactics to silence employees who are simply exercising their rights to freedom of speech while negotiations for a new contract sits at a stalemate. But owner/ operator Craig Woida said despite a Supreme Court ruling protecting free speech, he is suspending leafleting employees because they don't have a right to drive customers away.
"It's not right for the staff to stand out front and turn customers away," said Woida, but added that customers are continuing to support his store.
Since March, Extra Foods workers have been handing out leaflets asking customers not to patronize the store until Woida, and parent company Westfair Foods rescind what the union is calling rollbacks proposed in a new contract.
At press time, six employees had been suspended for the duration of one day to one week.
A decision resulting from a Wednesday (July 12) Labour Relations Board hearing is expected to determine which side is within its rights in the next few weeks.
"We're confident these people will be reinstated with full pay because this is a clear violation of their basic rights," he said.
In the meantime, the Squamish and District Labour Committee is also denouncing the suspensions as intimidation and harassment meant to silence workers.
"Members of the Squamish and District Labour Committee will refuse to shop at Extra Foods until the employer negotiates a new fair collective agreement," said committee president Sandy Bauer in a letter to the Chief.
Extra Foods workers from Vancouver have now taken up the Squamish employees' campaign and begun leafleting outside the Squamish location to allow local employees to stay clear of suspensions.
Neufeld said local workers should be commended for their vision of the big picture.
"Squamish employees deserve credit, this isn't just for them, it's for the employees that follow them in the future," he said. "One thing that people in the store in Squamish feel pretty strongly about is there's an awful lot of good jobs being lost in the area and this is one more example."
Neufeld said directives on what he's calling intimidation tactics such as suspensions are coming from Calgary's Westfair head office.
"The Westfair head office in Calgary is coordinating all of this," he said. "These guys are owner/operators in name only."
Laurie Steny, Director of Public Relations of Westfair Foods, said negotiations are a joint effort between the owner operators and the parent company. She said the company would not speak to negotiations, preferring instead to leave comments to owners. She also said that the decision to suspend workers is left up to owners.
