Canada’s Supreme Court hears multiple arguments, languages, in union case

A long-fought labor (or labour) case involving the closing of a Wal-Mart in Quebec when it tried to unionize is now in front of Canada’s Supreme Court, and this week judges began hearing arguments from both sides as to why Wal-Mart was wrong (or not) to close the store back in 2005. A pleasant mix of French and English has turned the courtroom into something akin to a UN summit, as many had to wear headphones that would translate what was being said into their native tongue.

The closing of the Wal-Mart in Jonquiere, Quebec, happened 7 months after employees there voted to become North America’s first unionized Wal-Mart store. Each side is, understandably, taking a firm stand on its position - Wal-Mart believes it has the right to close any store it wants, anytime it wants to; labor attorneys are arguing that intimidation of employees who seek to form a union is illegal, so necessarily the threatening and subsequent closing of an entire store wishing to unionize clearly fits under that description.

If you had mainly black employees and a store is going to close for discriminatory reasons, that would not and should not be allowed,” union attorney Bernard Philion told the nine justices - five men and four women - according to the simultaneous translation provided on headsets in the courtroom. He added that since Canadian labor law clearly protects individual employees from reprisal for union activities, it certainly should protect whole stores-full of employees.

The case appears that it will hinge on who has the burden of proof - that is, which side has to go out and proactively prove its argument. Will Wal-Mart have to show that it had various other good and legitimate reasons for closing the store? Or will labor have the burden of proving that Wal-Mart discriminated against its employees by shutting a store down that tried to unionize? The Court will have the final say on that, though Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin did point out that it will be up to Canada’s labor courts, and not the Supreme Court, to decide penalties against Wal-Mart should the retail giant lose.

Quebec labor law would not force Wal-Mart to reopen the store and give union employees their jobs back. Rather, the Supreme Court could remand the case to Quebec’s labor court, which could order Wal-Mart to pay penalties and damages to the employees for their lost wages.

Those looking for more info. on the case can check here - the case is Gaetan Plourde c. Compagnie Wal-Mart du Canada Inc., 32342, Supreme Court of Canada (Ottawa).
We know those involved in this similar closing will be.

Sides argue in Wal-Mart Canada case [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]

OTTAWA - Attorneys for Wal-Mart Canada Corp. and the labor organization trying to unionize Wal-Mart employees not only seemed to be speaking different languages during three hours of arguments Wednesday before the Supreme Court of Canada, but also they often were.

Speaking in his native French, Montreal attorney Bernard Philion argued that Wal-Mart violated the “freedom to associate” rights of nearly 200 employees when it closed its Jonquiere store in north-central Quebec in 2005, seven months after they voted to become the first Wal-Mart in North America to unionize.

The workers’ lawsuit seeks to stop businesses from closing when workers organize. Quebec’s provincial labor commission ruled Wal-Mart showed good cause when it closed the store. A superior judge upheld the ruling, as did the provincial court of appeal.

Union leaders hope the Supreme Court will draw a line in the snow by saying Wal-Mart broke Canadian labor laws. That would be a major step toward forcing Wal-Mart to stop intimidating employees who want to unionize, said Louis Bolduc, director of the Quebec United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

The justices closely questioned attorneys on the balance between labor rights and business prerogatives.

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Wal-Mart Asks Canada’s High Court to Dismiss Suit Over Closing [Bloomberg]

Canada’s Supreme Court Locked ‘N Loaded to Tackle Wal-Mart Case [Wal-Mart Watch Blog]

Posted by Corey Himrod on Thursday, January 22, 2009

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