The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an application by Sproule Lumber, a division of J.D. Irving Ltd., with costs to the respondent, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada, Local 864. No reasons were provided with the ruling, which was released on Sept. 26, 2024.
Sproule Lumber had been appealing an earlier decision by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, which had reinstated an arbitrator’s ruling in a labour dispute between the company and the union.
The arbitrator ruled that the employer had breached the recognition provisions of the collective agreement by communicating directly with employees. Tensions escalated in the fall of 2020 as Sproule Lumber ceased scheduling meetings to discuss grievances and began to criticize union officials in communications sent directly to employees.
One of the letters encouraged employees to inquire into the activities of the senior union representative and decide for themselves if his actions supported positive labour relations between the parties.
Another allegation related to a video shown at a mandatory employee meeting. It included statements by a corporate vice president concerning plants in the United States which had eliminated the union and become more productive, safer and better workplaces. The other incidents involve comments by corporate managers to employees about the advantages of a non-union operation.
For more information, see Sproule Lumber, a division of J.D. Irving, Limited v. United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada, Local 864, et al., 2024 CanLII 90827 (SCC).
