Ontario greenhouse workers apply to go union

TORONTO, ONT. – The union that won a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision in late 2001 upholding a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms regarding the rights of agricultural workers, has applied to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) to certify it as the bargaining agent for employees of a tomato hothouse factory farm in Chatham, Ontario. The application was filed Monday with the OLRB after a majority of workers at Platinum Produce, a multi-million dollar greenhouse factory farm in Chatham, Ontario, signed union membership cards with the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW Canada). The Platinum workers are the second group of Ontario factory farm workers to apply for UFCW Canada certification in the past year, even though Ontario Bill 187, declared after the 2001 Supreme Court ruling, continues to prevent Ontario agricultural workers from joining unions to bargain collectively. In spite of Bill 187, last July the OLRB allowed a certification vote to proceed at Rol-Land Farms, a mushroom factory farm complex in Kingsville, Ontario. The vote followed a successful signup campaign and application by UFCW Canada. The Rol-Land workers voted overwhelmingly to certify UFCW Canada as their bargaining agent but the OLRB has yet to rule on the Rol-Land case. Now the OLRB has asked UFCW Canada to deliver a record of facts by this Friday, April 2nd regarding the constitutional issues. How this might impact the Platinum Produce application is unclear. Typically an application for certification in Ontario is followed by a vote by the bargaining unit, to be scheduled and conducted by the OLRB.