Canadian Labour Reporter

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER news Photo: Chris Wattie (Reuters) Protection of privacy priority for government < from pg. 1 2013, the amendments to the Personal Information Protec- tion Act (PIPA) came about after an incident back in 2006, in which the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union local 401 came under fire for photographing and videotap- ing so-called scabs crossing the picket line during a strike at the Palace Casino in the West Ed- monton Mall. The province's privacy com- missioner determined the union had violated PIPA but, in 2011, the UFCW launched a legal chal- lenge that went all the way to the country's top court. Almost one year ago to the day, on Nov. 15, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada determined PIPA, as it stood, violated the union's constitutional right to freedom of expression — thereby forcing Alberta to make changes. Not far enough: Unions Unions have lauded the proposed amendments, but said they do not go far enough. "It's a small victory. It's not without import. It's a step in the right direction towards recog- nizing the importance (the) right of free expression has in society and an important step in the right direction toward recogniz- ing the role of unions," said Tom Hesse, the local chapter's senior director of labour relations and executive assistant to the presi- dent. "The changes they've made are very narrowly circum- scribed. It's as though they only addressed the issue in the nar- rowest sense without really con- fronting the broader issue about how freedom of expression in- tersects with privacy rights and how these two interplay and how they ought to interplay." But this is not carte blanche — there are limitations. Under Bill 3, a trade union is permitted to use personal information without the consent of the individual for the purpose of informing or per- suading the public about a matter of significant public interest. The union would also have to take into account the nature and sensitivity of the information. This would apply, for instance, if the union was hoping to sway the public not to purchase an em- ployer's products. Hesse cited as one example the XL Foods taint- ed-beef fiasco from 2012, where the UFCW felt lax management exacerbated the issue. Privacy concerns The provincial government put together the legislation after tak- ing into account the Supreme Court's requirements and con- sulting with Alberta's privacy commissioner. "Protection of privacy is a pri- ority for this government. We are responsible for the changing information needs of society and will be consulting further on this legislation starting next summer as part of a scheduled renewal," said Stephen Khan, the depart- ment's minister. As of press time, the Bill had passed its second reading and the committee of the whole, and was slated to go to its third read- ing. The legislation will be vetted by stakeholders next summer, according to Service Alberta. As it currently stands, the proposed legislation follows a rather broad approach — and the broader the language, the less in- dividuals will be protected under privacy laws, said Brian Thies- sen, a labour and employment lawyer at Blake, Cassels & Gray- don LLP in Calgary. "Unions should be as gov- erned as corporations in how they protect and collect and dis- close personal information of individuals," Thiessen explained. "For those of us who act on the side of management, we do have some concerns that unions be regulated as strictly as busi- nesses. We don't think that they should be broadly exempt from the privacy legislation. Unions, like corporations, are made up of individuals, and individuals make mistakes." But privacy laws should serve as a platform for philosophical conversations — a confab that can be ignited by labour dis- putes, said Hesse. "It should be an enshrined right, certainly, to recognize the role of unions as political orga- nizations that have much to say about inequities and unfairness in society. Labour nowadays is one of the meaningful dissenting voices in society," he said, adding that being publicly accountable during a strike will force people to deeply consider the issues. "What I hope (this) will do is cause people to pause, talk to the picketers, apprise themselves of the issues and make a more considered decision, because their decision will be subject to public scrutiny," Hesse said. "That's a healthy thing. We live in a society where it's easy to shrug things off — that does not lead to engaged citizenry." A new age When the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the privacy laws last year, it did so in a very different climate than the original setting back in 2006. Compara- tively, in 2014, social media plays a much bigger role when it comes to posting photos or information of an individual during a labour dispute. "There's been a dramatic in- crease in the use of social me- dia — the environment in 2006 versus the environment today," Thiessen said. "The unions are much more effective doing it in 2014. The damage to individuals is already dramatically greater than what the courts would have envisioned in 2006." Back in 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Alberta's privacy act unconstitutional, saying it en- croached on the union's right to freedom of expression. The province had one year to make changes.

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