"Privilege and Other Grounds for Protecting a Union's Documents and Communications from Disclosure" - June 7, 2012, Presented at the 2012 CLEBC Labour Relations Conference.
Black Gropper Presenters / Authors: Jessica L. Burke and S. Michelle Blendell
From time to time, a union will face requests for access to its documents and communications. The request may be from an employer seeking pre-hearing disclosure, or attempting to call evidence through the union’s witnesses, in a grievance arbitration proceeding or a matter before the Labour Relations Board. A union member may also seek access to the union’s documents and communications, as an opposing party to the union in a matter before the Labour Relations Board, such as a decertification application or a duty of fair representation complaint. In addition, a union member may apply to his or her union under the Personal Information Protection Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 63 (“PIPA” or the “Act”) for disclosure of his or her personal information, as a form of hearing discovery, or independently of any legal action against the union.
The focus of this paper regards the grounds upon which a union may resist an employer’s attempts to access its documents and communications. It also briefly addresses issues arising in respect of access requests by union members in complaints against the union, and under PIPA.