Join CLAC

The Labour Relations Act stipulates that employers may not retaliate against or otherwise interfere with employees who are exercising their right to:

If you feel that your employer is trying to interfere with your rights, the union will immediately file charges against your employer for any threats, coercion, intimidation, or retaliation related to this union drive. Check out what the Ontario Labour Relations Act has to say on this matter.

CLAC’s representation is based on Christian social principles of respect, dignity, and fairness for everyone in the workplace. CLAC applies these values in its representation of people from all faiths and beliefs. Our representation model is based on service and support for our members. With CLAC, you can count on us to answer the phone when you call and to show up when you need us.

Terms and conditions are frozen. The minute a union submits the application for certification, a provision of the Ontario Labour Relations Act is triggered, which prevents the employer from changing any of the terms and conditions of employment that exist currently. That means that the employer is prohibited from changing your wages, rolling back benefits, or any other monetary provision or protection you enjoyed prior to the application.

Now that this process has begun, the only way your terms and conditions can legally be changed is through bargaining and the approval of both the union and employer. Check out what the Ontario Labour Relations Act has to say on this matter.

Proposal Meetings — After CLAC wins representation rights for the employees at your workplace, one of the first things that would happen is a membership meeting to determine your bargaining priorities. We want to hear what is important to you so that we can craft bargaining proposals that meet your needs.

Bargaining Committee Elections — At the same time, CLAC will conduct an election for the creation of a bargaining committee to work directly with a CLAC representative to bargain your first collective agreement. Elections are again done by secret ballot and every CLAC member within the scope of your bargaining unit description will be eligible to vote.

Notice to Bargain — One of the first things that will happen after a successful certification vote is that the union will place the employer on notice of our intent to bargain a collective agreement. This is a legal process that is covered by the Ontario Labour Relations Act, which means that your employer must meet with the union to bargain in good faith to reach an agreement.

Research – CLAC has a team of research specialists who will conduct industry-specific research on the wages and monetary provisions paid by your employer and other similar agencies across the province. They will produce a report of the bargaining outcomes that have occurred across the healthcare sector so that our bargaining team will have up-to-date information on collective bargaining trends and industry standards. This information will be used by the CLAC representative and the elected bargaining committee to finalize our bargaining strategy.

First Collective Agreement — Negotiating our first collective agreement is not a simple matter. The only thing that we can guarantee is that the union will be highly motivated to begin negotiations soon after the certification vote and to drive to conclude a collective agreement that the membership will support as soon as possible. The reality is that it can sometimes take an extended period of time from the date the employees vote to unionize to the point where negotiations for your first collective agreement are completed.

Transition Period — The period of time between the date the union wins representation rights to the point where the membership ratifies its first collective agreement is known as the transition period. During this time, the union will provide you with representation to enforce existing legislation such as the Employment Standards Act, Occupational Health & Safety Act, Workplace Safety & Insurance Act, as well as the Ontario Human Rights Code. The union will also ensure that employees are not subjected to unjust termination and the employer does not attempt to change any of your terms and conditions of employment during this transition period.

Ratification — When the union and the bargaining committee believe that they have achieved a settlement, it will be presented to the membership to be ratified. CLAC will organize meetings to explain all of the details of the tentative agreement. A secret ballot vote will be conducted and the members would have the opportunity to vote accept or reject the proposed settlement. If the majority vote yes, then the agreement is ratified and would go into force immediately. If the membership votes no, then the bargaining committee would notify the employer that the proposed settlement has been rejected and more bargaining is required.

Retroactivity — When the union wins the certification vote, the Ontario Ministry of Labour issues a certificate of representation officially making your union of choice the official bargaining agent for the employees. As noted above, it can take some time for the process of negotiating your first collective agreement to be completed. It is therefore important for the union to insist that any potential increases take effect on the date the certificate of representation is issued, making those negotiated increases fully retroactive regardless of how long it takes to finalize the collective agreement.

CLAC dues are among the lowest in the country. Unlike some unions, your dues stay in Canada and are used to support you and your coworkers—not political parties or candidates. The union dues you will pay, after we successfully negotiate a collective agreement for you, are spent on providing excellent workplace representation.

With CLAC on your side, you will have a highly trained labour relations expert assigned as your union representative in your workplace. CLAC representatives are supported by a full legal department, WSIB Appeals Team, Research Team, as well as a Pension and Benefits Team.

Union Dues — The amount you pay in union dues is tax deductible and dependent on your wage rate and the number of hours you work. The formula that CLAC uses to calculate the dues you pay is 1.07 x hourly rate for full-time employees every two weeks and 0.75 x hourly rate for part time employees.

For example: if you are a full-time employee making $19/hour, you will pay $20.33 biweekly in union dues ($19 x 1.07), which is $40.66 per month. The part-time dues rate is 0.75 x hourly rate. In the same example, a part-time employee earning $19/hour would pay $14.25 every two weeks in union dues or $28.50 per month.

If you think that joining CLAC would make a positive change in your workplace, talk to your coworkers about the organizing process. We want everyone to be informed and know what is happening. If you would like to become part of the organizing team, please let us know.

What are the rules? — When you are on work time (time that you are being paid for by your employer) you should not participate in any union organizing activity. Any discussion about CLAC, or handing out information or petition cards, should be done off work hours.

CLAC is a multisector union with over 60,000 members across Canada. In Ontario, CLAC represents members in healthcare, construction, retail, manufacturing, and transportation.