Workers United:
Workers United and UNITE HERE are currently fighting a legal battle after a failed merger that saw 150,000 workers vote in March 2009 demanding they be allowed to leave UNITE HERE and form a new union. UNITE HERE completely disregarded the choice of these workers and took legal action against them. The case is before the courts in the United States at this time.
The Ontario Council Situation:
Currently UNITE HERE is fighting Workers United Ontario Council (WUOC) at the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB). This legal challenge was brought about by UNITE HERE’s refusal to acknowledge the worker’s choice to leave UNITE HERE as well as their interference in the Ontario Council’s collective bargaining relationships. UNITE HERE and Local 75 also refused to abide by the terms of the agreement they signed with the Ontario Council that allocated bargaining rights between the Ontario Council and Local 75. UNITE HERE and Local 75 abided by the agreement for a month and a half before choosing to ignore it by contacting employers and telling them that they should keep worker’s dues and not work with the Ontario Council. UNITE HERE has tried to obstruct WUOC’s efforts to resolve the dispute by, among other things, claiming that WUOC is not a trade union. All of these efforts have been dismissed by the OLRB. The dispute over bargaining rights is currently before the OLRB. We hope the OLRB will issue a decision ending the current dispute by late spring 2010. Throughout this, WUOC has continued to build strength by organizing and bargaining strong new contracts for our members.
Members Stories:
- A Letter to John Wilhelm (President of UNITE HERE)
- WUOC protest of UNITE HERE and Local 75’s union busting tactics
- A Letter to Nick Worhaug and Paul Clifford – “Respect our choice to be union!”
