Answering Your Questions

We are getting questions that we think are worth posting on the site and answering.

If the tentative agreement is defeated by a no vote, how does it lead to decertification?

We are pretty sure that the Teamsters deal is going to be a disappointment, and we never had much hope that they would be successful in our workplace. If we say “no” to this agreement then the union has to go back to the bargaining table, or call a strike, and the bargaining unit (all us employees) would have to vote on that.  You can probably guess how the folks at NotMyUnion would vote on that one too.  So, the point. If the union loses the ratification vote, and then loses the strike vote, they are pretty much legless, they would hopefully just walk away, but we’re not going to stop the decertification drive until they are gone out of our lives.

*** UPDATED – Sept 19 *** (We had the percentage wrong)

Now we all have to work and keep gathering more signers.  We figure there are about 600 employees in the bargaining unit so we just keep getting Form 33A’s signed. We need 45% +1 of that number, so 271 but we are not going to stop until we get a lot more than that signed.  It is happening fast enough now that we think we can more than enough.

First, we need everyone to sign a Form 33A, ask friends and co-workers to sign, we need a lot more signed. Print the 33A, make copies, or ask people to sign online.  Basically, spread the word.

 

Second, vote NO to the tentative agreement.

We’re afraid to answer this one because the Labour Board might call it “intimidation”.  We don’t have enough to file yet.  You will know when we do.

Short Answer:

Our message is clear, vote NO to this agreement and DECERTIFY this union.  We at NotMyUnion.com don’t feel there will be any value to this tentative agreement.

 

 

Long Answer:

Our message is clear, vote NO to this agreement and DECERTIFY this union.  We at NotMyUnion.com don’t feel there will be any value to this tentative agreement that was accepted by the Teamsters and the bargaining committee.

 

It appears that the consensus of people who signed a 33A, are all in favour of decertification from the Union.  This movement is a growing group of employees who never wanted the union in the first place as we clearly stated from the beginning.  There may be a small group who signed a 33A that are sitting on the fence between staying with the union, but still signing a 33A because that gives them an option to decertify if they feel the contract is weak or not in their best interests.

 

The contract will not be profitable to us and there is no guarantee of any job security for anyone written in any collective agreement.  Don’t be fooled by the Teamsters misleading promises.  Fool us once with the sign-up but don’t fool us twice by telling us to vote yes to this agreement.  Trust us, they want to fool us a third time by believing their promises to get us a better contract next time.

WE are a bunch of guys that didn’t want the union when it came in, there’s a lot to say about this, much of it is on the Why Get Rid of the Union page.  There is NO WAY the Teamsters would put this together, and GFS is not allowed to do something like this, the BC Labour Board would never allow it. Obviously, we are all concerned about being identified because a large organization like the Teamsters can be intimidating to some employees that oppose the union.

This a complicated one, but NO, they cannot.  It can depend whether you are a full union member (Signed a card) or not. Even then they have obligations to represent you fairly.  If they don’t, you may file a Duty of Fair Representation (DFR) complaint with the Labour Board.  The problem with that is, so far in 2025 alone, in British Columbia there are 25 such decisions.  There are over 70 DFR decisions involving the Teamsters in British Columbia. (We stopped counting).  These DFR decisions are NOT all relate to decertification, they are just official, filed DFR complaints against the Teamsters in British Columbia.

 

BC Labour Code – Part 2 — Rights, Duties and Unfair Labour Practices

 

Prohibition against dismissals, etc., for exercising employee rights

 

5   (1) A person must not

  1. refuse to employ or refuse to continue to employ a person,
  2. threaten dismissal of or otherwise threaten a person,
  3. discriminate against or threaten to discriminate against a person with respect to employment or a term or condition of employment or membership in a trade union, or
  4. intimidate or coerce or impose a pecuniary or other penalty on a person,
  5. because of a belief that the person may testify in a proceeding under this Code or because the person has made or is about to make a disclosure that may be required of the person in a proceeding under this Code or because the person has made an application, filed a complaint or otherwise exercised a right conferred under this Code or because the person has participated or is about to participate in a proceeding under this Code.

You can go to this page on the website, print the form, fill it out and hand it to one of us.  We are working on a way to gather these up.  The instructions are more clear on this page.

This process is complicated and took us some time to figure out.  We have to apply to the BC Labour Board to decertify.  This application has to include proof that more than 45% of us support the decertification. We do that with a form they provide called a 33A.  So, all the forms we collect will be gathered together and handed to the BC Labour Board with the Form 33 (No “A”) Application.