Toronto Local 353 is the IBEW’s largest local union in Canada, with nearly 13,000 members, but adding to that number remains a top priority.
If it means displacing a so-called union that is more friendly to management instead of the workers it represents, so much the better.
Local 353 recently won certification votes at Onyx Electrical and A&W High Voltage Contracting, two companies where members previously were represented by the Christian Labour Association of Canada.
Most Canadian labour activists commonly refer to CLAC as a fake trade union because it often negotiates contracts favourable to contractors instead of the bargaining unit. It is not a member of the Canadian Labour Congress and makes little effort to work with the country’s union movement.
“We’ve had a really positive response when displacing CLAC contractors and bringing them into the IBEW,” Local 353 Membership Development Director Andrew White said. “Part of our success has been better working conditions. We’re a members’ union. We support and represent members.”
The higher wages the new members receive because of IBEW representation remain an attraction, White said. But they also appreciate the increased emphasis on safety and the dignity of being represented by one of the country’s most powerful trade unions.
There are benefits for management, too. White said most contractors realize that the IBEW’s training programs are the best in the industry. Local 353 and other Canadian locals provide a qualified workforce on nearly a moment’s notice, saving the companies from doing the hiring themselves.
Displacement campaigns, such as the ones conducted by Local 353, will be on the agenda when the First District holds its Membership Development Conference in Moncton, New Brunswick, this summer, said Brad Wood, First District organizing coordinator for eastern Canada.
So will threats by CLAC and other management-friendly unions to challenge IBEW representation at companies across the country, he said.
“Decertification is a real threat for any local unit and bargaining unit,” he said. “It’s crucial to talk about the elephant in the room.”
Collective bargaining agreements between Ontario’s construction unions and companies typically last for three years. The 60-day period before the end date is referred to as the open period, where a competing union can earn enough card-check signatures from employees to call for an election. Workers also can agree to a new CBA with their current union and management or decertify and work nonunion.
All of the IBEW’s Ontario CBAs with contractors end at the same time, which guarantees certainty for contractors and partners across the province.
CLAC and the Building Union of Canada, another “false” union, has its agreements end at different times. IBEW organizers stay on top on those end dates and have a plan ready when the 60-day period begins.
First District International Representative Rich Di Pietro, who previously served as the Ontario organizing coordinator and now is a service rep, said White and his staff show the importance of being organized and having a campaign ready to go the moment an open period begins.
“They have done an exceptional job, especially in the last couple of years, of paying attention to competing unions, identifying those open periods and educating [CLAC] members,” said Di Pietro, a former membership development director at Hamilton, Ontario, Local 105.
First District International Vice President Russ Shewchuk said Local 353’s work reverberates far beyond Toronto — and even the province.
“[Business Manager] Lee Caprio and his organizing team have done an incredible job that truly sets the bar for the rest of Canada,” Shewchuk said. “There are never any excuses or finger pointing as to why they can’t do their job. They have gained an incredible amount of market share over the last few years, truly putting boots on the job and food on our IBEW families’ tables.
“They can do it all, from grass roots bottom up organizing, to negotiating top down with company owners,” Shewchuk added. “They have created an organizing culture that is built for success. The First District applauds the work ethic of Local 353.”
