HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 The Labour Relations Code, RSBC 1996, c. 244, is amended by adding the following:

Labour relations fund required

16.1  Every trade union must establish a separate labour relations fund which must

(a) Be an account with a chartered bank or with a credit union as defined in the Credit Union Incorporation Act; and

(b) Contain only monies collected through an assignment of wages permitted under section 16, where such assignment is directly or indirectly a condition of employment or continued employment.

Permitted uses of labour relations fund

16.2  (1)

(a) A trade union in receipt of monies collected through an assignment under section 16, where such assignment is directly or indirectly a condition of employment, must deposit all such monies into its labour relations fund.

(b) A trade union must not use any monies from its labour relations fund except for labour relations purposes.

(c) In this section, "labour relations purposes" means the following:

(i) Encouraging employees of an employer to become members of the trade union;

(ii) Commencing or pursuing applications for certification or efforts to obtain voluntary recognition from an employer;

(iii) Encouraging employees of an employer to vote in favour of a trade union in a certification vote under section 24 or against a decertification vote under section 33, or in favour of a strike vote under section 60;

(iv) Collective bargaining on behalf of employees in a bargaining unit for which the union is certified or for which it is seeking or has obtained voluntary recognition;

(v) Benefits for employees who are on a lawful strike against an employer for whose employees the trade union is the certified or voluntarily recognized bargain agent, or who are locked out by that employer;

(vi) Administration of any collective agreement to which it is a party, including the processing of grievances under that collective agreement, or defending against grievances by the employer under the collective agreement;

(vii) Litigation or administrative proceedings under this Act or other Acts intended to regulate the employment relationship of the persons bound by a collective agreement to which the trade union is a party, including the Human Rights Code, the Employment Standards Act, and the Workers Compensation Act;

(viii) Constitutional or public interest litigation or administrative proceedings respecting collective bargaining;

(ix) Education or training in connection with any of the foregoing;

(x) The ordinary administrative expenses of the trade union, including the salaries of its officers and employees, and the including expenses associated with regular or periodic conferences and conventions; and

(xi) Expenses incurred under section 16.4.

(d) No trade union shall transfer into or out of its labour relation fund any monies from or to its other revenues.

(2) Nothing in this section precludes payments by a trade union from its labour relations fund to the trade union's parent organization or to an organization or federation of trade unions within British Columbia, provided that the organization or federation receiving such monies does not use those monies for any purpose except assisting a subsidiary trade union or a member organization or subsidiary trade union of a member organization with the labour relations purposes.

Reporting Requirement

16.3  By December 31 of each calendar year, every trade union must file a written statement with the Board, on oath of an authorized officer, containing the following information:

(a) The amount collected by the trade union in the preceding 12 months pursuant to assignment of wages permitted by section 16;

(b) All deposits, withdrawals, payments and other account activities in its labour relations fund in the preceding 12 months;

(c) All payments in the preceding 12 months permitted to be made by subsection 16.2 (2).

Board Review Power

16.4  (1) The Board may order that a statement filed under section 16.3 be reviewed and certified by a chartered accountant or certified general accountant as accurate.

(2) The costs of review and certification under subsection (1) must be paid by the trade union whose statement is the subject of an order made under that provision.

Board remedial power

16.5  If the Board determines that a trade union has breached section 16.1, 16.2 or 16.3, it may make any order it considers appropriate.

 
Explanatory Note

This Bill amends the Labour Relations Code by bringing greater transparency and more rights to unionized workers in BC. Trade unions will be required to establish a separate labour relations account for the purpose of collecting monies and paying for the core activities in support of their members. In addition, yearly accounting of these collections and expenditures will be required to assure workers that their dues are being spent appropriately.