We have seen this past week two instances where eateries have closed shop and laid off their unionized staff only to re-open with non-unionized workers.
;Richtree Market accused of unfairly laying off workers + Metropolitan Hotel’s restaurant returns without its union
This if not clearly in violation of successor rights and in one case the collective agreement certainly violates the spirit of both. The scary thing is that like Target's end around successor rights this just might work.
Faced with the loss of their jobs workers typically sign away any further claims against the employer in order to receive much needed severance payments. However both of these closings appear to be in bad faith designed solely to circumvent regulations so there is a chance these workers may win the day, but given the current state of oversight I'm not holding my breath.
I am thinking that one of these days soon, Kev, I will take a trip to Toronto to visit the Eaton Centre where Richtree is housed and hand out to potential customers photocopies of The Star article on its union-busting tactics. Perhaps that might cause a few people to lose their appetite?
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping the OLRB puts these owners off their food
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