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Just Us and Them?

Baristas at Just Us! Café attempt to unionize, lose their jobs

by Hillary Bain Lindsay

Just Us! General Manager says she knows nothing of the union drive.
Just Us! General Manager says she knows nothing of the union drive.

Elijah Williams was caught off guard last week when he and fellow Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op employee Shay Enxuga were told they were no longer a “good fit” for the Café where they had been baristas since January 2012 and July 2011, respectively.  

“I was absolutely surprised,” says Williams, who had asked his supervisor a week or two before if there were any problems with his work performance.  “She said ‘No, you’re a great employee,’ and she was praising me.”  

For the past three months, Williams and Enxuga had been meeting outside of work with other employees from Just Us!’ Spring Garden café to discuss forming a union.   

"Every employee except the most recent hires attended the meetings, which happened as often as twice a week,” says Williams. “It was a long process because we wanted to take the time to make sure that all the staff had all their questions regarding starting a union answered to the best of our ability and to their satisfaction.”

“We were just at the end of tying up all the information for the questions people had.  And then we got dismissed,” Williams says.

Leading up to what Williams and Enxuga call their dismissal, and what Just Us! General Manager Debra Moore calls a “parting of ways,” (both employees were given a severance package), Williams says he and other employees were approached by their supervisor Ali Larson and asked about their unionization drive. “’Do you know anything about disgruntled employees, issues that weren’t brought up, talk about unions and labour boards?’ are the words she used with me,” says Williams.

Larson declined an interview, saying all questions should be directed to Just Us! General Manager Debra Moore, who works at the co-op's head office in Wolfville.

“I never heard a thing about it,” said Moore, who says she knows nothing of the meetings to discuss unionization.

According to Moore, Williams and Enxuga’s departure from Just Us! was a mutual decision. “They weren’t happy and we weren’t happy and we just parted ways. There was no dismissal at all.”

“The type of workplace we are, which is really self-management and participatory workplace, for some people that’s more difficult than it is for others,” explains Moore. “So, sometimes it’s better to part ways.”

But Enxuga says it was precisely Just Us!’ alternative model that attracted him to the company to begin with. “I was excited at the possibility of having a work environment that has social justice values,” he said.  

Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-operative specializes in fair trade organic coffee, with the tagline “People and the planet before profits.”  Part of the company’s stated purpose is “to foster a more democratic workplace and supply chain, where everyone can participate and benefit.”

Just Us! is incorporated as a worker co-operative.  According to its website, a co-op is “another way of doing business based on community ownership and democratic principles. It is not designed to maximize profits or returns to investors. All employees are eligible to become members after working two years and making a modest investment.”

According to Moore, Just Us! currently has 14 worker-members, or about 20 per cent of its workforce.

According to the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation (CWCF) website, it is possible, although not necessarily common, for worker co-ops to unionize. “In some co-ops the non-management workers may come to feel unfairly treated and seek to unionize over the objections of the management employees,” says the site. “This is an unfortunate situation, and is a sign that some members feel excluded from decision-making.”

“At first I was starry-eyed and really excited [about working with Just Us!]," says Enxuga.  But the longer he worked with the co-op, the more he felt there were discrepancies between stated ideals and on-the-ground experience.   

“I’d say there was a lot of small issues – things like breaks and tips and room bookings – that isolated are pretty minor but built up to create this larger culture where we felt our voices weren’t being valued in the co-op.”

“One of the biggest reasons we wanted the union was to put a system in place to negotiate things within our collective agreement,” says Enxuga.  “We don’t want to just count on the benevolence of our bosses.  But also because unless we have a union there’s a power dynamic going on between us and our bosses where we’re not protected.  One of the reasons we want to have a union is to have a grievance process, where we could be legally protected in case of mistreatment, like being dismissed.”

Moore says she doesn’t know anything about the situation at the Spring Garden café. “I don’t have a clue as to the reason they decided to speak to the union,” she says.

“I’ve been a union supporter all my life,” adds Moore when asked about Just Us!’ stance on unions. “…. In general, I’ve been involved with the NDP and unions all my life.  I think they’ve got their place for sure.”  

Jason Edwards, labour organizer for SEIU Local 2, was approached by Williams and Enxuga in December about unionizing and has been in regular contact with the employees since then.  Edwards, who had always been a supporter of Just Us! and its mandate, says he was shocked to learn that Williams and Enxuga had lost their jobs.  “Some employers you’d expect that of them…but with Just Us!, I was incredibly surprised that they were so heavy-handed.”

“I think when the evidence comes out it will be very clear to everybody that Just Us! dismissed employees because they were forming a union,” says Edwards.  “That is incredibly illegal.”

Enxuga says they are fighting back.  On Friday, SEIU Local 2 filed an Unfair Labour Practice complaint with the Labour Board of Nova Scotia, on behalf of Williams and Enxuga. They’re also planning a rally on April 7 in front of the Spring Garden cafe to protest their dismissal. Williams and Enxuga want their jobs back and for Just Us! to recognize the union.  

“[We] basically want [Just Us!] to uphold its mandate of being a social-justice kind of organization,” says Williams.  “We want it to uphold what it says it is.”  
 


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1019 words

Commentaires

thanks

thanks for posting this, Hillary!

Rally

The rally will be on Sunday, April 7th at 2:00pm outside Just Us! Spring Garden.
Please come out and show support!

hi

Hi, 

Is SEIU organizing the rally? anymore info on it?

 

 

Thanks

 

Bryn

Eli and I are organizing this

Eli and I are organizing this rally with the support of the SEIU.
The rally will be on Sunday, April 7th at 2pm outside Just Us Spring Garden. We're trying to gather public support to demands that Just Us restore its social justice mandate by reinstating both me and Eli and recognizing our union.

Join the Co-op

If they wanted to promote change why not join the co-op.

Also if either or both of them had personnel issues, its not like we would ever know, they wouldn't tell the media and Just Us couldn't tell the media due to privacy laws.  Sounds like sour grapes for being fired to me.  No where in the article did it say that Just Us broke up the meetings or said they couldn't unionize.

Your comment sounds like sour

Your comment sounds like sour grapes.

 

If it was such a great place to work then there would be no reason workers would want to organize a union.  this isn't the first time Just Us! workers wanted to organize a union.  there abviously is a need for a union. 

Unbelievable

These two have some issues thats for sure..I want to hear JustUs side of the story...do you cats any idea of how difficult it is to run a business these days and then have people meeting in subversive discussions trying to bring the JustUs man down..from what I see JustUs is an incredibly caring company giving the `barristas`lots of freedom as the person above me mentioned Sour Grapes...thats what it smells like to me...you may not only have been dismissed but your actions may dismiss the rest of the staff and the company as well...us small business types walk a very fine line these days..heres a suggestion for the two disgruntled barristas...GO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!!!!!

From the comments from the

From the comments from the General Manager in the article it's seems clear the company is trying to down play the fact that they fired these woerkers for trying to organize their workplace and they are trying to pretend like everything is fine.

 

your suggestion to go start their own business. how about you business types start doing the work us workers do in stead of stealing our surplus labour and then complaining when we try to get some of it back. So... GO BECOME A WORKER AND SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE!!

Fellow worker?

Business owners are the hardest workers around, and no-one would have a job if they didn't exist. Workers own this business. Inform yourself; your ignorance is showing.

  Very simple,  Employers

 

Very simple,  Employers need workers (to, by definition, do the work), however, Workers, if the business was Structurally self-managed, do not need employers. 

 

About no one having a job if employers didn't exist, I disagree completely.  in fact, an argument could be made that more jobs could be created if there were less employers, because there would be more funding allocated  to the workers.  Workers just need to learn to manage themselves. Simple.  (kinda the principle behind co-ops, some of them at least).  

 

And yes, Just Us! is a co-op, but only 14 of the 75 workers are members of the co-op.  the majority of workers for Just Us! are just workers.  

believe me, I have informed myself, but yes my ignorance does show, especially when I'm dancing.

 

 

Please follow the story for us

Admittedly, without my knowing anything about the situation, it is possible that the employees in question were disgruntled to the extent that it was markedly affecting their work performance. In such a case, the same grievances that would lead a person to consider forming a union could also lead to their contributing to a degradation in the work environment if they did not communicate these grievances to management. While I have no idea if this is the case, I have dealt with situations where employees decided to put workplace politics above communication with management, which led to an overall nosedive in morale. The two issues (grievances and unionization), while linked, may not have had as clear cut a cause and effect as is suggested in this article. While I would also like to know more about Just Us' side of the story, they are obviously not at liberty to discuss the matter, as they are bound by employer privacy laws. With their not being able to speak freely on the matter, it becomes much easier to vilify them. I suggest the Media Co-Op follow this story through the grievance process to see if they can gain more balanced insight from both sides.

The workers are doing exactly

The workers are doing exactly what you recommend.  by forming a union they are trying to communicate with the employer, just not on an individual level but a collective level. since the employer already has the upper hand between an employer,/employee relationship, the only real way for workers to "communicate" with employers is through a union.

Maybe in a normal business

Maybe in a normal business that would be true. With this business' organizational structure, it's not. Not only did they not take advantage of any of the many recourses available to them, they concealed the unionization effort.

  You kinda have to conceal a

 

You kinda have to conceal a union drive (even when you're unionizing a co-op).  a boss is a boss after all.  plus most union and non union work places have "many recourses available to [workers]" but there is always more strength in numbers, reason why you collectively bargain.

Good point, but I think it's

Good point, but I think it's important to distinguish between the dialogue environment at Just Us! and your typical corporate chain-of-command.

There is a difference, yes,

There is a difference, yes, but I always ask, what power do workers actually have at work.  One of the main reasons to organize a union is to take that power away from the employer's arbitrary hands and put it into the hands of the workers.

 

So this is still the case at Just Us! (with a difference, for sure) and a union presence would greatly change the relationship (for the better, I argue, because of the structural difference).

Just Us!'s "side of the story" doesn't matter.

Legally speaking, it's irrelevant. Under NS law if you want to dismiss a full-time employee, you give them a reason. That's it.

Just Us! had one job and they cocked it up.

Where is the Justice?

These workers were clearly let go because they were wanting a union, which is their right. Those that are trying to make excuses for Just Us in this case by blaming these workers should be ashamed. This is also not the first time Just Us has targeted workers for wanting a union. I stand in solidarity with these workers at Just Us and I hope they can bring in a union, obviously they need it.

Solidarity!

I have long supported Just Us because I support worker-owned co-operative workplaces. That being said, in a situation where a co-op has workers who are not owners, I fully support the formation of a union to ensure more fair and democratic workplaces. 

I fully support these workers and the others I know personally who have been dismissed in the past while trying to start a union. I also commit not only to boycott Just Us, but to ensure that progressive organizations do not support Just Us until they respect workers' right to organize. 

facebook

facebook event HERE

Solidarity

Shame on Just Us! for dismissing workers for exercising their right to organize a union. Of all place, a workers' coop should encourage employees who are not members to formalize a collective voice through a union to ensure a balance of power and justice in the work place.

Hey Just Us! People before profits, remember?

So So So!

It is important to recognize that "freedom" in the work place is relative. Being free to decorate and create an inviting space in a cafe, to make signs and to make creative displays is no real freedom at all. All of these activities contribute to the image of Just Us! as a progressive employer, and contribute to the company's bottom line. In reality the "freedoms" of working at Just Us! are greatly out weighed by the level of control exercised by the management through manipulation and aggression.

This union drive is not the first, and this round of firings is only one in a long line, which have been occurring since the company's creation.

I do not want to see this company fail, but I am also unwilling to support them as they continue to profit from the creativity and ingenuity of their staff, and the ethical image they have created, when in reality staff have no job security, no recourse when management abuse their position and no voice in the company.

Joining the co-op is not the answer, especially since you need to have full time status (limited number allowed per cafe) for a full 2 years, as well as several thousand dollars available to buy in. It's no small feat to save that amount when you're working for just barely more than minimum wage.

There is a lot more I could say on this, but I will leave it at this:
There are legitimate concerns here, that the management is well aware of and has chosen to ignore for years. Mistreating employees while you manipulate the public into buying your products on the basis that you are an ethical company is wrong. This was a long time coming, and I am very glad people are finally paying attention.

So So So!

-Former Just Us! Employee

 

 

"People and the Planet before Profits" maybe not so much

Just Us coffee states "People and the Planet before Profits" on their website banner.  What a crock this statement is turning out to be. As a trade unionist and a Just Us coffee drinker and supporter for a number of years I am not only shocked by this company's attitude towards workers who were attempting to unionize, but am appalled by the Just us online 'supporters' who are trying to demonize the 'not the right fit' employees trying to start a union.

Perhaps Just Us's banner should be changed to more accurately reflect their real creed: "Profits before People." Just Us has shown they are not really different at the end of the day from any other Tim Horton's. If you want to use a right-wing business model then be honest about it. You lost a supporter in me and I will definitely be attending the rally. 

Shame on Just US Coffee!

 

I drink a lot of Just Us

I drink a lot of Just Us coffee, and I've been a supporter of their business for years. I think it's time for me to switch companies, and to start buying from Java Blend, Laughing Whale or another ethical coffee producer. If they can't treat their employees with proper respect, I won't be giving them any more of my money. Simple as that.

Oh, and if you haven't tried "Smiling Goat" you should, so delicious. It's also near the public gardens.

Laughing Whale http://www.laughingwhalecoffee.com/

Java Blend: http://www.javablendcoffee.com/

Smiling Goat: http://www.smilinggoat.ca/sg/SmilingGoat.html

Job Performance

 Yes, certainly it is possible that under these circumstances some employees who are disatisfied by their job don't put in as much effort as they should. In this case, I can tell you it isn't true. Employees at Just Us! are motivated and hard workers. They work hard for their team, not personal gain. The dismissed employees are hard workers. Since they depend on this company for financial stability they had no plans on leaving without new jobs! It wasn't a mutual parting of the ways, as it is suggested by Just Us! Employees in this situation don't quit - they try to start a union! Joining the co op might be a good idea, but hardly conceivable while working for slightly above minimum wage and with such a tight labour buget.

The public will always believe what it wants to believe, given both sides of the situation one will always be more attractive to you based on your own opinions. But what you assume is not always the case. You don't know much about it, except that two employees were dismissed without proper notice or reason. According to NS laws, that's wrong, whether you agree with unionizing or not.

Thank you, Job Performance. I

Thank you, Job Performance. I found your reply to be enlightning and a net positive contribution to the story. Sharing this sort of perspective is how to make a comment section of an article shine. Best regards.

Debra Moore's contact info

 

Here is Debra Moore's contact info for folks would would like to write, or call her and ask her to reinstate the fired workers and start negotiating with the union.

Debra Moore (Co-founder)

General Manager           

T. (902) 542-7474 Ext. 227

 F. (902) 542-4436

deb@justuscoffee.com    

Unions in a Coffee shop is BS

First off, I do belong to a union so it is not that I am anti-union. I also worked in the the food service industry and really fail to see how a union would help in a job slinging coffee. For that matter how well do you people feel it would go over if the workers at Starbucks or Tim Horton's tried to start a union at thier workplace. I somehow feel that the company would not allow it to happen. That and have any of these people that are trying to get this union on the go looked into if there unions for anybody in their industry? I know one would ever happen in any reastaurant I cooked in. Along with the fact this is a job that is a minium or close to minimum wage earning job, do they want more money taken off thier pay in union dues every pay pieriod, and what are they expecting out of this union? That and how many of you that have posted on here have worked in the food service industry to even know what it is like to work in that industry?

That and I know the people that started Just Us and they are nice people and I could never see them abusing workers. That and the ones dismissed in my terms where not long term employees working there for one to two years is now long term workers.

 

Speaking rashly without knowing all the facts is BS

It doesn't matter if you are anti-union or not. It also doesn't matter whether or not you think a union has a place in a coffee shop. A union is a unionizing of coworkers. Where there are coworkers with concerns a union could develop.

Just Us! barristas don't claim to want a union to get more cash fast,  no one has said anything about that. The employees were meeting (very seriously with union and labor board representatives) to discuss aspects of the workplace where they felt certain things were not being addressed. Employees also wanted JOB SECURITY, which is quite ironic seeing as two people were fired without cause. There is a general feeling that if employees bring up issues they could be dismissed for it - this is not the first time that employees have been dismissed without reason and without following proper procedure at this cafe. Union dues being taken off of an employee's paycheck is a small consideration since it is in exchange for protection against wrongful termination.

What is considered to be "long term" is also irrelevant since the rules apply to all NS employees who have been working for longer than a three month trial period. If there is a time to dismiss someone for not being a good fit, the trial period is that time.

Whether you know the founders of Just Us! or not, whether they are good people or not - the fact remains that they, as someone said above, cocked it up. No one is saying they were abusing their employees with whips or starvation or somethings.

The reason this is all so awful really is because this company is one of the only ones trying to do something good for the coffee industry and their developments are important. If they want to maintain a good opperating business they should follow the rules so as to protect themselves against this kind of situation. The rules are there to protect employees and employers AND the people who are growing all of this coffee for us to drink. The mistakes made here have consequences will echo in other countries, other co ops and other families who really can't afford it.

 

Let me get this straight,

Let me get this straight, because workers in coffee shops work for minimum wage, they shouldn't organize a union? But that is exactly what unions do my friend. By workers coming together and organizing, they increase their chances at fighting for increases in wages and benefits, not to mention, better working conditions.  That's why you should want to see workers in places like Starbuck and Tim Hortons get organized. 

 

And if your workplace is unionize, then youknow that union dues are not that much money. PLUS, it's money YOU control through your union. Can you say that about anything else that's deducted from your pay? 

 

The folks who started Just Us might be great people, I don't think I read anywhere anyone criticizing them personally, but in their role as an employer, they seem to be more concerned with increasing the bottom line. Why else would they try so hard to keep their workers from organizing a union all these years? This isn't the first time.

 

/sarcasm

Right, because paying considerably higher than minimum wage at an entry level position, a handsome benefits package, profit sharing and opportunities for membership are clearly the actions of an organization concerned with nothing more than the bottom line. 

  Conditions maybe of the 14

 

Conditions maybe of the 14 members, not, I'm sorry to say, the conditions of the rest of them.  maybe soon though, hopefully.

Let's not forget fair-trade!

I echo the comments that highlight the dilemma of wanting to know more while realizing that privacy laws might prevent the full story from coming out at this time. Like Mr. Frank Discussion, I hope that the Media Co-Op follows this story to help us all gain a more balanced understanding.

I also want to respectfully disagree with some of the comments I've read here -- especially those that further polarize the current dispute. I am referring to remarks, such as those made by Don Goss ("Just Us has shown they are not really different at the end of the day from any other Tim Horton's.")

Most importantly, I do not want people to lose sight of the specific issues that initially inspired support for fair trade coffee here in Nova Scotia. Of course, employment concerns matter -- but so do international trade issues. In particular, it's important to continue our support of rural communities that chose a fair trade model to help them sustain and develop their families, communities and environments.

Despite knowing that most coffee production relies on migrant labourers who are extremely exploited, as well as production methods that destroy rain forests and aquatic life, Tim Horton's will not serve fairly traded or organic coffee. They will not even reveal the sources of their beans. These facts are reminders that Timmy's, despite the familiar name, is a multi-billion dollar corporation that trades on both the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. To claim that a small, cooperatively-owned business that sells fairly traded and organic products is no different than Tim Horton's seems to me either deliberately provocative or fatuous. Neither stance is constructive. 

We all need to stop playing the blame-game (or schoolyard bully) and, instead, work to foster genuine understanding and progressive alternatives. In the meantime, we are fortunate in this region to have a wide selection of local products and fairly traded imports available from independent retailers. Vote with your wallet and visit one today.

Labour Rights are Human Rights

Some people may choose to believe that some 'rights' out weigh another 'right'. I do not. The right to fairly pay a third world coffee producer does not outweigh the right for a low-paid coffee shop employee to unionize in this province. Labour rights are human rights.

Tim Horton's is notoriously anti-union. If you did a little research you would discover that this franchise will bulldoze a TH shop to the ground before allowing a union shop. This happened a dozen years past to the TM on Bayers Road. Once it unionized the owner decided to 'level' the store and rebuild. Meanwhile using the lack labour laws in this province to let the unionized workers go - and so breaking the union. Oh, they did rebuild again on Bayers Road but the workers who signed were not hired back.

As for those who 'suggest' just joining the co-op, well not eveyrone has $2,000 in their bank account to become a member. I don't suppose a Just Us Coffee employee can do this on an installment plan either.

I feel that the reason this issue has resonnated within the NS Labour Movement. is that Just Us! brands themselves as an ethical choice for coffee drinkers. When they show they really are not so ethical when it comes to some rights, there is a sense of betrayal.

I would urge co-op members and their board of directors to do the right thing and re-hire these terminated workers and allow the union drive to continue. Maybe the employees will want a union or maybe they won't. But it should be the workers choice and not management's to decide.

  Showing support to fired

 

Showing support to fired workers who tried to organize their fellow workers into a union is not being a "schoolyard bully".  It's choosing a side in a conflict between an employer, even a "just" one, and their workers, who along have no means to deal with their grievances.  

I don't think this conflict is about choosing between fair trade (and all the good things it does) and "employment concerns".  if the employer would have not interfered with the union drive, then we would not have this conflict at all, and we would have a unionized, fair trade coffee shop in Halifax, which I think would only increase the support for Just Us! 

 

my comment you quote was a response to the ridiculous comment made previous basically saying if workers want to complain about their jobs, they should go start their own business. which is a typical argument from employers to justify keeping workers' wages, and working conditions, down.  I wasn't aiming it directly at Just Us!, even though it could be aimed at them since there is a clear division of labour in the company, where management make the decisions without doing any of the labour and workers having no say in workplace decisions while doing most of the work.

 

 

Nope.

Benefits enjoyed by all full time staff past their probationary period, baristas included.

which is only two out of the

which is only two out of the 10 workers who work at the Spring Garden location (a ratio you will find at other stores).  A union might help all employees the other workers, gain more of those benefits.

A union might indeed, and

A union might indeed, and that may well end up being the solution. What I find troubling is everyone jumping on the bandwagon (and Just Us' collective neck) and assuming that unionization is the reason behind these individuals' dismissal when confidentiality laws mean any different reason, or any reason at all in fact, can't be discussed. From my understanding a number of other people were involved in the unionization discussions as well and their jobs are secure.  

Assuming?

It's not an "assumption" when two honest workers have been quite open about what happened to them when they tried to unionize.

What you call, jumping on the

What you call, jumping on the band Wagon, I call union solidarity. In injury to one is an injury to all. It's the Labour movement's greatest weapon.

 

The two folks who were fired we the main union organizers. 

At no other service job in

At no other service job in over a decade in the service industry did I enjoy: Sick days, an annual footwear allotment that didn't come from my pocket, great tips, a place that enforced occupational health and safety, that required me to take breaks as written by labour laws, given a nice discount or a quarterly gift card with a tidy sum on it, started above minimum wage with a wage increase after a month and provided an incredibly positive work environment where I felt supported and listened to.

Just Us! provided all of those things, and I was just a part timer. I have never been treated better by any other cafe, restaurant or bar in which I worked. Should I find myself out of the work I went to school for tomorrow I wouldn't hesitate to try and get my job back there.

 

I once heard a very fitting

I once heard a very fitting quote that applies to the situation as you describe; "No good deed goes unpunished".  ;)

This is not complicated

All this discussion about how great Just Us! may be as an employer is immaterial to the story at hand. The point is that workers were tring to form a union and they were fired. The company claims there was a mutual parting of ways, the employees in question state they were fired. The employees were also issued ROE's declaring they were dismissed. The employer is clearly lying. It is the right of these workers to form a union.

This isn't a theorietical debate about the merits of co-ops versus unions. It is a clear cut issue of employer - employee relations.

If you believe the company is right, contray to the words of the employees, the evidence of the ROE's, the fact that they passed their evaluations with no issue and the fact that the two employees in question just happened to the lead organizers in their workplace then so be it.

I, however, choose to stand with the workers and the facts.

      

Actually...

That's simply not true Mark. All of the employees available for FT hours, as in willing to work them, received them and the associated benefits. The only ones who didn't were students or employees working two jobs. Not sure where you're getting your information but it's flawed.

Sorry, my sources are sound.

Sorry, my sources are sound.

Obviously not, as you're

Obviously not, as you're posting incorrect information that could easily be ascertained simply by asking current Spring Garden employees if they have full time hours and benefits and if not, why not.

Obviously not, as you're

Obviously not, as you're posting incorrect information that could easily be ascertained simply by asking current Spring Garden employees if they have full time hours and benefits and if not, why not.

I'm not going to tell you my

I'm not going to tell you my sources, sorry.  but in the end, the issue is... workers were fired for organizing a union, which is illgal in Nova Scotia.  They need to be reinstated and their right to form a union needs to be respected.  An actual boycott will result if the employer doesn't recognize their mistake.  with the talks that are now happening between management and the union, we hope this situation gets solved very quickly.

I'm not going to tell you my

I'm not going to tell you my sources, sorry.  but in the end, the issue is... workers were fired for organizing a union, which is illgal in Nova Scotia.  They need to be reinstated and their right to form a union needs to be respected.  An actual boycott will result if the employer doesn't recognize their mistake.  with the talks that are now happening between management and the union, we hope this situation gets solved very quickly.

There is nothing to indicate

There is nothing to indicate they were fired for organising a union but their own assertions. 

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