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Presidents Address (March 29th,2010)

On Friday March 19th I met with LCBO District Manager Lou Recchi who was accompanied by an HR representative. One of the issues raised at that meeting was the unions concern regarding the employer’s procedures for investigations.  This employer has put the union on notice that they will no longer be inclusive and forth coming with the union. We were told that they will not be consulting with us, and further they will not be disclosing in advance any information, or questions that they will be asking members. Not only will they not be disclosing but they will also not be including the union in any of the results or discipline of members that may follow. Speaking on behalf of Paul “New Sherriff in Town” Mancini, Lou stated that they do not have to share this information, and they have no intention to do so in the future.  He said that to do so it would compromise their investigations.

The unions concerns are obvious and many, failure to disclose leads us to questions what the employers intentions are. In the interest of the union members, we have no choice but to protect employees from improper investigations. We have become aware that questions asked were in violation of privacy, human rights and can result in disciplinary action. Possible disciplinary action can be a result of allegations being investigation or questions asked as part of the investigation.  These questions may or may not have anything to do with the allegations being investigated.

 While the union believes that every employee has a right to work in a harassment free work place, free from bullying and treated with respect and dignity we cannot support the employer’s position of exclusion. As a result of the employers strong position we will not be supporting any investigations in local 499 other locals in the region are also expressing frustration. We are recommending that for member’s best interest that they do not participate in any investigation or exchange of information with the employer since doing so may result in disciplinary action.

I have also been receiving calls from members regarding transfers. Last week the union held a meeting with Lou Recchi, a Steward and a member that had recently been transferred. The purpose of the meeting was to address the members concerns regarding the transfer. Lou informed the Steward that if he was going to bring members concerns forward that they were going to be seeing a lot more of each other as there are many more transfers coming. The union does not believe that the employer is considering any adverse effects that transfers may have on employees. The union will continue to bring members concerns to this employer. We have heard Paul Mancini state that “he has a business to run” however he also requires employees to run this business. It is our position that all though we recognize management s needs to transfer under certain circumstances; we feel that the employer should take into considerations the needs of its employees. The arbitrary use of transfers is not conducive to good employee relations

            In Solidarity,
Lori Davis
President #499
Vice Chair LBED