Canadian Labour Reporter

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER news Photo: JP Moczulski (Reuters) Widespread, diverse locals lend strength to labour movement < from pg. 1 group of employees. Lacey said he believes Local 200's experience as an amalgamated local will provide valuable learning opportunities for his leadership. David Bridger, vice-president of the Service Employees' In- ternational Union (SEIU) Local 2, agreed the amalgamation of unions and locals provides more than just strength in numbers. The diversity of education and ex- perience different members bring to an organization can be a huge advantage, he said. "It gives the union some strength in that if one particular sector starts getting hit pretty hard, there's strength in the di- versity," Bridger said. "If one par- ticular group starts seeing some decrease in membership or they start seeing a lot of issues that they have to take up with the em- ployer because their contracts are under attack… the diversity of the union allows for us to continue to do the job we need to do in repre- senting our members." SEIU Local 2 represents work- ers across Ontario, Nova Scotia, Alberta and British Columbia. In addition to its geographical diver- sity, workers also span a number of different fields within the pri- vate sector. The most important challenge to overcome when representing such a diverse group, Bridger said, is the issue of communica- tion. With regional or satellite offices spanning an entire prov- ince or country, it is crucial to co- ordinate the central message and vision of the local's leadership. The best way to do this, accord- ing to Bridger, is to build strong connections in the regional land- scape. "It's important to understand the regional aspects of what's go- ing on in the labour community," Bridger said, "and investing in and developing strong regional lead- ership." Building strong bonds Creating and maintaining strong bonds within each local's commu- nity can also help to prevent the loss of culture and sense of com- munity sometimes threatened by amalgamation. The trademarks of the smaller organization are often absorbed during the process of an amalga- mation, according to John Hyde, partner at Levitt & Grosman. "This is not always a good thing," he said, "particularly if the two locals do not share the same kind of business culture." The merging of unions or lo- cals always creates a period of uncertainty for the employers directly involved, Hyde said, because each organization has its own preferred methods and modes of operation. "From the employer perspec- tive, the business representa- tives can choose to be part of the problem or choose to be part of the solution," Hyde said. "The preference is, of course, the lat- ter. Where relationships between unions and employers are both good and respectful, companies (and consequently their employ- ees), profit." In instances where employees have a reasonable relationship with their employer, the SEIU at- tempts to nurture that dynamic, Bridger said, emphasizing each case must be approached individ- ually as there is no one-size-fits- all method for merging. "Whereas if there is a difficult relationship with the employer — and maybe that facilitated some of the change — they're going to take a different and more aggres- sive approach to handling specific issues," Bridger said. If mergers become more and more common, the issue of em- ployer relations will become in- creasingly important. Lacey said it is becoming harder for small locals to be active in their com- munities and support their mem- bers. In these "scary times," he said, more locals and unions will opt to amalgamate and strength- en each other. Unifor itself — the largest pri- vate sector union in Canada, representing more than 305,000 members across the country — was formed in 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) merged with the Com- munications, Energy and Paper- workers Union of Canada (CEP). In 2014, the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Telecommuni- cations Workers Union (TWU) merged, with the TWU remain- ing intact as Local 1944, an au- tonomous national local within the USW. And SEIU, currently working with the national merger format in its Local 2, is exploring ways in which it can further diversify and strengthen its membership. As drastically as the landscape could be changing, Bridger said the labour movement's overall goal cushions both employers and employees during the merger process. "As much as you may be chang- ing the union, a lot of things stay the same," he said. "Things may be different but the ultimate goal in labour is the same, by and large. If you put your focus on the actual members and say, 'In the context of everything we're doing, what's the best way that we're going to be providing service for the mem- bers?' then you can't go too far wrong." The merger between Unifor's Local 2098 and Local 200 will create a more diverse membership with employees from Ford Motor Company and Diageo's bottling facility represented by the same leadership.

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