Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 45 against the rights of workers to associate and to bargain collectively, and I would wager again that the freedom of asso- ciation rights may well be found to be of paramount importance. It may be that the freedom of religion has to give way to the right of workers to organize and to bargain collectively." That's a position shared by Colleen Bauman, a union-side labour lawyer with Goldblatt Partners in Ottawa. "This employer faces a very high hurdle," says Bauman, who is herself a Mennonite. "There are very valid times when reli- gious accommodation is required and that's part of what it is to have a just soci- ety, and the Charter is there to protect religious claims. But it doesn't mean that every time that someone asserts religion is a justification for them to violate the law . . . that is going to be found accept- able as an excuse." Bauman says relations between employers and unions can be both col- laborative and productive and she ques- tions if Gingrich Woodcraft's owners realize what working with a union could actually mean. "From my personal reli- gious views, I see absolutely no conflict between doing union-side labour law and being a Mennonite. The values in some way are similar and complemen- tary," she says. "But the Mennonite faith has a full range of groups from progres- sive to ultra-conservative and within each of those groups you are going to find different views on many of these issues." She adds: "I don't question that those are validly held religious beliefs. The issue is if that rises to the level that it somehow allows them to be able to trump the rights of their employees — the right to unionize, the right to bar- gain, the right to be represented by a trade union. And that is what the board is going to be looking at." Farah Baloo, associate counsel at Unifor, sees the issue as one of a factory owner retaliating against a to-be-union- ized workforce rather than a genuine argument about freedom of religion. She expects a prompt, pro-union rul- ing from the Labour Relations Board, although she admits it would be unusu- al for the board to meet Unifor's request to order Gingrich to reopen the plant. "I think it's more of an issue about the right of the employees to be represented by a trade union," she says. "Employers in different ways often try to interfere with that, and that's what's happening here. It's not new, and it's not legally novel. The justification here might be slightly unique, but . . . I don't really think of it as an issue that raises any questions about freedom of religion. I think it's more to do with the rights of employees and retaliation against employees for exercising their rights under the Labour Relations Act." Noting how unusual it is for an employer to admit that unionization is behind a decision as drastic as closing a plant, she adds: "There is not a hell of a lot in dispute in terms of the facts. I think they are the only company I've run into where they admit to anti-union animus outright, they advertise this in the news- paper, and they do it publicly. And that's what is the most offensive here." CONNECT WITH IN-HOUSE COUNSEL COLLEAGUES AT LEXPERT.CA/CCCA Check out in-house counsel's best networking tool! The 2015/16 Lexpert CCCA/ACCJE Directory & Yearbook online edition is a user-friendly, outstanding key resource for all in-house counsel. Access more than 4,000 listees, more than 1,900 organizations, find fresh editorial content, and information on deals and links to important resources. ANYWHERE. ANYTIME. ANY DEVICE. Untitled-3 1 2015-10-29 1:06 PM Yonge Richmond Centre 151 Yonge Street | Suite 1404 Toronto, ON M5C 2W7 416.865.0504 littler.com Your people and employment law challenges cross borders, times zones and cultures. And so do our solutions. We bring global thinking and experience to your workforce issues— wherever business takes you. We're global because you are. Untitled-3 1 2015-10-26 11:48 AM

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