BILL 187 - THE AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYEES PROTECTION ACT: A SPECIAL REPORT

The Labour Relations Act defines agriculture as follows:

"agriculture" includes farming in all its branches, including dairying, beekeeping,
aquaculture, the raising of livestock including non-traditional livestock, furbearing animals
and poultry, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of agricultural
commodities, including eggs, maple products, mushrooms and tobacco, and any
practices performed as an integral part of an agricultural operation, (Labour Relations Act,
1995, Section 1 (1).)

Section 3 (b) of the LRA explicitly states that the Act does not apply “to a person employed in
agriculture, hunting or trapping ”.

Bill 187 sustains the agricultural exemptions currently provided in the LRA, but also provides
agricultural workers certain rights not previously enjoyed. The Bill provides:

- Agricultural workers the right to form employee associations;

-   Agricultural workers the right to have third parties represent their interests to employers;

-   Agricultural workers the right to protection from interference, coercion and discrimination

based on association activities;

- Guidelines for labour organizers in gaining access to employees in agricultural
workplaces; and

- Dispute resolution procedures between employee associations and employers through
hearings before the existing Agricultural and Food Appeal Tribunal.

Clearly distinguishing Bill 187 from the LRA is the absence of mediation, binding arbitration,
hearings before the Labour Board, voting and certification procedures, and the right to strike.

Implications for Agri-food employers

Standing back from Bill 187, and the inevitable surround sound of legal and political noise, it is
useful to reflect why employees would seek to “associate”, and why unions would be interested in
organizing employees.

At their core, unions and employee associations are formed when employees perceive that they
are being unfairly treated in the employment relationship. In short, there is a failure of some sort
in the workplace, and employees feel disadvantaged in securing just and proper treatment from
employers.

Unions are also businesses. They have hierarchical organizational structures, command and
control procedures, revenue targets, costs, and demands for profit to advance the union mission.
Union revenue is derived from dues paid by employees for services provided to them by the
union.

In the employment relationship, there are certain key elements which an employer really should
(must) respect, whether they have a union or not. Among these are:

- fair compensation and benefits for services provided;

- provision of a safe, healthy and positive workplace;

- fair workplace rules for hours of work, rest breaks, and overtime assignment;

- clear job qualification standards and job posting procedures;

- appropriate recognition of seniority;

- an established, timely and fair process for handling grievances; and

- fair vacation and holiday benefits.

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