Again, between the period when the employer has in all cases been notified by the labour board that an application has been made and the time that the vote is held, in virtually all jurisdictions in Canada there is a time limit for that of between five and 10 working days.
The procedure Bill C-525 brought in has no time limit at all, so potentially it is a very long time period.
We also found in some of our research that this time limit was often not very well enforced by labour boards. Even though the statutory requirement was for five or 10 days, for example, it could often be significantly longer. We found that in that time period unfair labour practices did occur and they had a very strong effect on discouraging certification.
How this happens, is again, the employer has been notified that there's a certification vote and has a substantial period of time, a number of days, where they can communicate with employees. Unions do not have a reciprocal ability to contact and communicate with workers. For example, workplace organizing is illegal for unions to engage in; that is an illegal unfair labour practice. It provides a substantial period of time when the employer has unparalleled access to employees to have their views communicated.