Today the publication, Canadian Employment Law Today, discusses an interesting case decided earlier this year by the Ontario Labor Relations Board. Under Canadian labor law, the Labor Relations Board can exempt a worker from a requirement to join a trade union if the worker objects to doing so on religious grounds. This was the first application of the exemption provision to the construction industry. At issue was the sincerity of the worker's beliefs. The Board found that the employee adequately proved that he was entitled to an exemption.
The employee belonged to a fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ, called the Brethren. A central tenet of theirs is that the Bible permits only one assembly-- the believers of Christ. Membership in a union and all other associations violates this tenet of "separation". The employee also believed in the principle of master and bondsman, which also conflicts with belonging to a union. He owed a loyalty to his employer which would be disturbed if he belonged to a union and it acted on his behalf. The principal requires a direct relationship without a union or any other body as an intermediary. To depend upon a union would detract from his belief that salvation is only through Jesus Christ.
The decision, available in full online is Allan v. I.B.E.W., Local 586 (June 15, 2005).
