FILE PHOTO - Locked-out dispatchers and call takers at Kelowna Cabs held a rally in February, 2021. The B.C. Labour Relations Board has squelched an effort by some employees of Kelowna Cabs to decertify the union.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

The B.C. Labour Relations Board has squelched an effort by some employees of Kelowna Cabs to decertify the union.

This is the latest ruling in the long-standing conflict between the cab company and the union. The dispatchers and call takers have been without a collective agreement since 2019.

During bargaining last November, the company issued layoff notices, saying the dispatchers were going to be replaced by an app. The labour board ordered the company to go back to the bargaining table.

READ MORE:  Kelowna taxi company forced to shelve app plan as union wins fight for jobs

Talks broke off in February when the company locked out the workers.

In March, some of the workers applied to decertify the union. A vote was held on March 30 but the ballots were sealed after the union challenged the eligibility of some people to vote.

On March 31, in a separate ruling, the labour board said the company had violated the labour code by telling a worker that he had to give up the union if he wanted to keep his job.

READ MORE: Kelowna Cabs violates labour code, B.C. board rules

Labour board vice-chair Brett Matthews issued a ruling yesterday, April 19, on the effort to decertify the union.

Ten people voted but the tentative voters list only contained seven names.

The union (Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, Local 378, also known as MoveUP) challenged the right of four of those people to vote and the employer challenged the vote of one other.

In order to get a decertification vote, 45 per cent of eligible employees have to sign the application to decertify.

Known as “Certain Employees,” those wanting to decertify the union insisted that there were nine eligible voters in the group.

Matthews said in his ruling that, if he agreed with them, they would not have met the threshold of having 45 per cent of the workers sign the application to decertify.

Therefore, he dismissed the application to decertify the union.

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