The B.C. Greens won’t support the NDP’s plan to remove the use of secret ballots for employees seeking to form unions.
Green Leader Andrew Weaver said he’s adamantly opposed to the idea, and will fight the NDP if the party tries to push forward. The NDP needs the Green Party’s three votes to pass any legislation.
“I will never support legislation that will eliminate the secret ballot,” Weaver said in an interview. “It’s simply not going to happen. And no amount of convincing will ever convince me to do that.”
NDP Leader John Horgan said during the election campaign that if he formed government he would change the current law that requires employees who want to unionize to take a vote by secret ballot. Instead, Horgan said he’d prefer a system called card check, where a majority of workers must sign union cards to certify.
B.C.’s business community and the Liberal government say the current secret-ballot system is ideal because it prevents co-workers from intimidating and pressuring colleagues to join a union. Organized labour, which backs the NDP, wants the change to a card-check system, because it makes it easier to certify new unions.
The NDP and Greens have formed a power-sharing deal to topple the Liberal government at the earliest opportunity following Thursday’s speech from the throne. The Greens have then pledged to support the NDP on votes of supply (budget) and confidence, but retain the freedom to oppose any legislation outside of that agreement.
Weaver said he’s told Horgan repeatedly that the Greens won’t back the labour-code change.
“It’s never going to happen,” Weaver said. “I told them that at the negotiating table multiple times.”
Power-sharing talks between the NDP and Greens wrapped up May 30.
Despite being told the Greens opposed abandoning secret ballots, the NDP has continued to push the idea.
NDP labour critic Shane Simpson has suggested that the Greens could be brought on board. Simpson said he thought the Greens would be “happy to be part of the conversation” regarding changes to the labour code.
Weaver said the Greens are interested in co-operating with the Liberals and NDP on other legislation, including potentially voting in favour of a Liberal bill to ban corporate and union donations, but warned he won’t allow any party to unilaterally push bills through the legislature.
“We’re not going to have people ram through legislation, they actually have to build consensus,” he said.
Weaver said his preference for the current secret-ballot system stems from his time on the University of Victoria faculty association, in which he’s a member of the union and has participated in bargaining.
“Now I know from first-hand experience that in any certification drive, there are those people who feel pressured to sign a certification drive, but they want the opportunity to have a secret ballot,” he said. “I’m a big supporter of unions, but you have to give people the right to a secret ballot.”
The NDP issued a statement from Simpson in reaction to Weaver’s comments, though it made no mention of how New Democrats could proceed with the idea if they lack Green support. “Our agreement with the Greens allows us to agree to disagree,” read the statement.
The Independent Contractors and Business Association hailed Weaver’s decision, saying in a statement that the right to a secret ballot is fundamental to democracy, whether it be in elections or votes to certify unions.
