Zellers' union in Target's crosshairs

The following Vancouver Sun story highlights how an anti-union culture  is being brought into Canada's retail landscape by big US retailers such as Target Corp.  Target recently purchased all Zellers locations and has stated its intention to break up the union representing workers at Zellers Brentwood Mall.

Vancouver Sun story below

Burnaby's Zellers staff want union agreement honoured

Dispute before Labour Relations Board hinges on whether Target is a ‘successor’ to Zellers

BY DARAH HANSEN, VANCOUVER SUN DECEMBER 1, 2011 7:07 PM

Target is taking over Zellers stores in Canada and that’s led to a dispute between the U.S. company and the union representing 120 employees at the Brentwood Mall Zellers in Burnaby.

Photograph by: JESSICA RINALDI, Reuters

Unionized staff at a Zellers outlet in Burnaby are hoping to force Target Corp. to honour their collective agreement when the U.S.-based discount retailer takes over the store lease next year.

The union representing 120 employees at the Brentwood Mall Zellers said workers have been told they will be laid off following the store’s conversion to Target, and will be rehired without union status.

Andy Neufeld, spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union, Local 1518, said Target has a reputation for being “aggressively anti-union” in the U.S.

Earlier in November, the UFCW filed an application with the B.C. Labour Relations Board seeking to have Target declared the “successor employer” to Zellers. If successful, the successorship application would ensure the existing collective agreement with Zellers will remain in place despite a change in ownership.

“We think there is enough indication there that [Target] intends to operate the business in a way that is comparable to Zellers; therefore, we think there is pretty solid grounds to pursue a successorship application,” Neufeld said.

Target has yet to officially respond to the application. However, company spokeswoman Lisa Gibson said in an email that Target is aware of the filing and will dispute the union’s position.

“We believe the transaction between Zellers and Target is a real estate transaction and not the acquisition of a business, technology or employees. As such, we do not believe Target is a successor employer under applicable law and do not believe that there was reasonable cause to file a successorship application and will contest the filing,” Gibson wrote to The Sun.

The Brentwood Mall Zellers is one of 125 to 135 Zellers locations across the country — and the only unionized location in B.C. — slated to become Target as part of a $1.825-billion lease-takeover deal reached earlier this year between the companies.

Target has said it will spend up to $11 million to convert the Zellers stores to fit its low-cost retail model, with most opening in 2013 after a six- to nine-month renovation.

At the heart of the labour dispute is whether Target intends to take over Zellers’ business, or the location.

Larry Page, a labour relations lawyer based in Vancouver who is not involved in the case, said a decision by the LRB will likely be based on the fine print written into the lease-transfer agreement between the two employers, including the details of the transaction between Zellers and Target and the nature of Zellers’ business.

“The focus here is the business,” Page said. “If [the LRB] can track the business from the seller to the buyer, then certification and collective agreement go with the business. If the business has effectively been terminated by the closure of the Zellers store, and Target has not taken on that business, then there wouldn’t be a successorship.”

Page said disputes over successorship rights are common among businesses, and questioned the UFCW’s anti-union accusation.

“If Target has structured this deal so that it is not taking over the business of Zellers, there is no reason for it to automatically assume certification and collective agreement.”

Gibson said Target’s emphasis is on “creating an environment of mutual trust between Target and our core team members, an environment that promotes listening, responding to the concerns of team members and always giving honest feedback. Target believes in solving issues and concerns by working together with the help and input of all team members.”

Target announced in September its plans to open outlets in Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton, Prince Rupert, Salmon Arm, Dawson Creek and Victoria, as well as several locations across Metro Vancouver.

dahansen@vancouversun.com

Twitter:@darahhansen

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Burnaby+Zellers+staff+want+union+agreement+honoured/5798803/story.html#ixzz1fM77kzzM

More articles on this subject:

labour-reporter.com

Nov 29, 2011

Union says Zellers’ locals should remain after Target take-over

B.C. union files application with labour board to declare Target ‘successor employer

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

The union representing workers at a Zellers in Burnaby, B.C. has filed an application with the B.C. Labour Relations Board, asking for Target to be declared as the “successor employer” when the company opens operations in Canada.

American-based Target plans to convert 135 Canadian Zellers stores by 2013. Their current plan is to let go of all of the Zellers staff and hire its own employees.

Currently, 15 Zellers stores are unionized.

By asking the B.C. Labour Relations Board to declare Target as the “successor employer,” the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union hopes the soon-to-be Target store will continue to be unionized and keep the workers employed. Canadian labour laws require successor companies to hold on to unions if the company is opening a similar business in the same area.

“The reason we filed this application is to ensure Target honours its legal obligation under B.C. labour law,” says UFCW Local 1518 president Ivan Limpright. “After Target bought Zellers earlier this year, we made a point of reassuring our Zellers members that their long-term job security is a top priority for the union.”

Limpright says UFCW 1518 intends to resume negotiations for a renewal collective agreement shortly. The union expects contract talks will continue during the Labour Board hearing.

Lisa Gibson, a spokeswoman for Target, told the Globe and Mail the acquisition of Zellers leases “is a real estate transaction and not the acquisition of a business, technology or employees. As such, we do not believe Target is a successor employer under applicable law and do not believe that there was reasonable cause to file a successorship application.”

Gibson indicated that Target will contest the application.

Canada is not new to American-owned operations opposing unionization when setting up shop north of the border. After a Jonquiere, Que. Wal-Mart voted to unionize in 2005, the company shut down the store.

Earlier this year, 150 Wal-Mart employees in Gatineau, Que. decertified their union after just one year with their first collective agreement. Employees at a St-Hyacinthe, Que. Wal-Mart decertified their union in March 2011 after the union spent years in court trying to achieve an agreement.


http://www.labour-reporter.com/articleview?articleid=11824&headline=union-says-zellers-locals-should-remain-after-target-take-over