Why get rid of the union?
It’s a worse deal for all of us
(You can give your thoughts at the bottom of this page)
The culture of Gordon Foods has been like family and its strength has been in our loyalty to each other.
Why should we get rid of the union?
Union Dues
Members are required to pay dues (and sometimes additional fees such as initiation fees), which can be a noticeable deduction from paycheques.
Even if the union manages to negotiate a contract, there’s no guarantee that wage or benefit increases will outweigh the cost of dues.
Unions can and often do accept lower wages and less benefits for employees to get something that only benefits the union organization. Most of the time they just want your hard earned money.
The Union Just Wants Our Money
According to the Teamsters website, monthly dues are “two and a half hours of your base monthly. So, if you make $15 an hour, your monthly dues are $37.50.“
There is an online calculator for union dues on the LabourWatch website. Using $35 per hour as an average pay and entering that there are about 600 of us in the Teamsters (IBT) bargaining unit at Gordon’s that calculator tells us:
We would each pay up to $1,110 per year (or $21.35 per week or $92.50 per month). If 600 unionized workers paid what we pay in dues, the union would get about $666,000 every year and about $1,998,000 from all of us over a 3 year period (A common collective agreement length).
Sysco Update
- Sysco’s performance with customers has been quite poor since unionization. Sysco after unionization did a large number of layoffs in operations and transportation. After White Spot was lost, more layoffs came.
- A non-union company has the upper hand for gaining National contracts. Our job security relies on our customers!
- Gordon’s competitive advantage was that our customers had NO risk of business disruptions which allowed us significant growth across Canada. At Gordon’s we strive to meet and exceed our customer expectations. Here customer is King! Remaining non-union was security to our customers that there would be no unforeseen stoppages to their foodservice distribution.
- Customers will be more willing to do business with us as a non-union company, thus creating more business for Gordon’s because there is less uncertainty and risk to their operations. Unionizing jeopardized our contracts. Customers may even move to smaller food distribution companies away from GFS and Sysco if BOTH remain unionized. If customers leave us, we lose our jobs.
Unions Are Expensive
Unions are expensive, very expensive. They bring increased labor costs which significantly increases a company’s payroll expenses, which can lead to increased costs for our customers. It’s a tough business and you need to help your customers keep their
heads above water. Without your valued customers you don’t get paid!
ChatGPT summarized it like this:
Overall operating costs in a unionized workplace are typically 15–30% higher than in a
non-union equivalent. In very heavily unionized industries, it can be higher —
sometimes 40%.
Where does this money come from, what will that do to our business?
Loss of Individual Flexibility
One-size-fits-all contracts: Collective agreements apply equally to everyone, which can limit flexibility for workers who want personalized arrangements (e.g., different hours, unique pay structures, merit-based raises, vacation time). Example: extended time off for a trip home out of country to visit family.
Seniority rules: Promotions, layoffs, and shift choices often go strictly by seniority, which can frustrate newer high-performing employees.
No individual autonomy: Labour laws forbid our employer from speaking with us about matters in the workplace, everything must go through the bureaucracy of the union.
Loss of flexibility with part-time or temporary positions and potentially more strict rules and regulations. This would affect individuals who want a less structured work environment or those with specific lifestyle needs.
Risk of Strikes and Work Stoppages
Potential for strikes/risk of unpaid stoppages of work that are outside your control. If the union calls for a strike, we don’t get paid.
Are you able to go for extended periods of time with no pay? Would you be in a financial position to support your family or pay your bills on time?
Striking workers generally receive strike pay from the union, but it’s much lower than regular wages. The internet says that Teamsters do not have a standard daily strike pay rate. The amount varies depending on specific collective agreements and also the member’s regular wage. It says that average strike pay can be up to $25 per day!
Adversarial Workplace "Us vs. Them"
The union wants us to be in conflict with our employer because if we are getting along, why would we need a union?
More direct and frequent communication with your manager fosters a sense of individual recognition, potentially leading to faster resolution of concerns.
Rigid grievance processes: Workplace issues may need to follow lengthy formal procedures rather than being resolved much more efficiently, to the benefit of both employees and management.
When the union came in, it was called Certification and getting rid of the union is called Decertification.
The union will tell you, or you may have heard that if you try to decertify the union you will lose your job, or the union will punish you. If they tell you that, they are trying to scare you and they are breaking a British Columbia Labour Law and their website explains it very well. BC Labour Board website.
We have the spokesperson chosen and will file the Form 33 Application as soon as we have enough support. Each person that wants to get rid of the union and get back to what we had must show their support by signing a BCLRB Form 33A. After you have filled it out, it will email you a copy and NotMyUnion a copy. NotMyUnion must confirm receipt of this Form. After this is all done you will receive a Final copy. This is the most secure and confidential way as it ensures that neither the union or employer will know if you have signed your Form 33A to support a decertification vote in the near future.