ANALYSIS: Can Canadians Stop Paying Union Dues Over Ideological Differences?

Fred Hahn, president of the Ontario Canadian Union of Public Employees, speaks at a press conference at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 16, 2018. (Mark Blinch/The Canadian Press)

Workers in most other comparable countries have more freedom than Canadians to disassociate themselves from unions they find ideologically objectionable, says labour expert John Mortimer.

Mr. Mortimer, who is president of the non-profit Canadian LabourWatch Association, discussed with The Epoch Times the realities workers face if they want to stop paying dues to unions such as the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

Social media discussions have brought forth various suggestions on how to stop supporting CUPE, following controversial comments made by some of the union’s leadership on the Israel-Hamas war.

For example, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn said he’s thankful for the “progress” resistance brings following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. The union has taken controversial ideological stances before, including its support for Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in 2019 despite widespread recognition, including by Canada, that his election was illegitimate.

While Canadian laws governing unions are complex and vary depending on the jurisdiction, Mr. Mortimer said, workers generally have little choice but to pay full dues.

Unusual Power Given to Unions

Labour law across Canada gives an unusual amount of power to unions in a couple of ways, Mr. Mortimer said.

Firstly, union membership may be a mandatory condition for certain employment. If you choose to leave the union, you may be fired.

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It depends on the collective agreement and jurisdiction, but unlike in many other countries, Canada’s regional governments, unions, and employers have the power to make union membership mandatory.

“Unions don’t tend to go for ‘capital punishment’ on the membership question, but it has happened. It can happen—that’s the really important thing,” he said.

Secondly, unions are allowed to use the money collected from members for political or ideological purposes. In most European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, that isn’t the case, Mr. Mortimer said.

“They couldn’t give money to a political party, couldn’t give it to a social cause, couldn’t use it to fund LGBTQ flags, couldn’t use it to fund anti-Israeli or pro-Palestinian flags,” he said.

Alberta is a notable exception in Canada. Its Restoring Balance in Alberta’s Workplaces Act, 2020, says workers must be allowed to opt out of union dues that go to “non-core” activities. Unions must separate dues that go to “core” activities, including administration and collective bargaining, from dues that are used for political activities and the like.

According to Mr. Mortimer, workers in other countries have more freedom to dissociate from labour unions, and those unions aren’t allowed to use the dues they collect for anything but collective bargaining in the interest of their members. The European Court of Human Rights has determined this, he said.

On the other hand, he noted that Canada’s Supreme Court has historically ruled in favour of unions’ powers in these regards.

The Supreme Court has said the charter right to free association includes the right not to associate with unions. But that right has limits, as shown in the Supreme Court case Lavigne v. Ontario Public Service Employees Union, in 1991.

In that case, an Ontario college professor objected to his union’s political activities, including support of the New Democratic Party (NDP). But even the judges who said being forced to pay dues infringed on his charter rights also said that this infringement was justified.

Canada’s charter rights are not absolute; judges must balance competing rights and decide on a reasonable limitation.

“The limitation on appellant’s freedom of association is justified, to enable unions to participate in the broader political, economic and social debates in society, and to contribute to democracy in the workplace,” the Lavigne decision read.

“An opting‑out formula could seriously undermine the unions’ financial base and the spirit of solidarity so important to the emotional and symbolic underpinnings of unionism.”

Mr. Mortimer doesn’t agree with this and other decisions that infringe on workers’ rights.

“What we’ve done in Canada ... is say we’re going to justify the violation of people’s rights,” he said. “The European Court of Human Rights, which oversees 47 countries and almost a billion people ... have said, ‘No, European workers cannot be forced into union membership.’”

Canadian union members do have a few avenues they can take to stop paying dues, depending on the jurisdiction and the particular collective agreement, but all of them are very limited, Mr. Mortimer said.

Religious Exemption

Toronto-based labour and employment lawyer Seann McAleese has suggested CUPE members apply for an exemption from paying dues based on religious convictions or beliefs. “Hit [CUPE] ... on dues,” he urged on platform X on Oct. 10. 

Mr. Mortimer said religious exemptions are rarely granted because you have to thoroughly prove that scripture or the theology that you sincerely follow prohibits you from being part of the union or paying dues for a specific reason.

Members of Christian sects, such as the Brethren, have won exemptions because of their particular interpretation of part of the New Testament that states, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” They have argued that being part of a union is being “yoked together with unbelievers.”

Mr. Mortimer said the hypothetical situation of someone looking to withdraw dues from CUPE over its Israel-Hamas views is unlikely to work.

“So I’m Jewish and I object to Fred Hahn using my union dues to fund anti-Israel rallies. I object to this on religious grounds,” he said. “ You have to make an actual application to the Labour Board, you have to prove you are an adherent, a Jewish person. Next, you have to prove that the Torah actually has a provision that says you cannot be in this situation.”

Donate Dues to Charity Instead

David Jacobs, president of the Ontario Association of Radiologists, suggested in an X post on Oct. 10 that the law allows members to donate their dues to charity instead.

His post drew the response of many identifying as CUPE members looking to withhold their support of the union, based on its ideological position. Yet, only workers in collective agreements that have a provision allowing for such a substitution could do so, Mr. Mortimer said.

“Because I’ve only seen one or two in my 40-year career that have such a provision, I’m going to suggest that less than 10 percent of collective agreements give the unionized worker that type of choice,” he said.

Vote to Decertify the Union

Another suggestion floated on X is to have CUPE members vote to decertify the union and seek alternate representation.

The Fraser Institute think tank has argued, however, that decertifying a union is not a viable option for workers who don’t support their unions.

“The process for decertification requires time and resources to organize workers who want to decertify,” wrote Fraser Institute’s senior analyst Hugh MacIntyre and former director of fiscal studies Charles Lammam in a 2015 post.

The first step alone can require rallying hundreds or thousands of union members. One must gather enough signatures on a petition to start the process (40 percent of union members, according to Ontario’s regulations).

Various provincial rules make the process complicated and difficult, they say. For example, many provinces have limited time periods for submitting an application to decertify.

“In Ontario, if the private sector union contract lasts for three years, an application to decertify can only be submitted in the last three months of the contract term,” Mr. MacIntyre and Mr. Lammam write. “So, for the other 33 months, workers have no mechanism for leaving the union unless they leave their job.”

Other Difficulties

The United States has dealt with similar calls from workers to allow them to stop paying union dues. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in a landmark case in 2018 that union members cannot be forced to pay dues. In the eight months following the decision, almost 50,000 California government employees alone stopped paying their dues.

At the time, some of those involved in the case told The Epoch Times that unions started raising dues for remaining members to compensate for the losses. They also said many workers stayed in the unions out of fear they would be ostracized or left vulnerable.

Chris Vander Doelen, a former member of the Unifor union in Windsor, Ontario, who also worked as a journalist reporting on union-related issues, told The Epoch Times workers worry about the repercussions from cutting ties with unions.

“It’s very common [for unions] to threaten, ‘Well, just wait until you have a problem with your pension. I’m not going to help you,’” Mr. Vander Doelen said.

He said he personally knows people who have been intimidated by unions in many ways. Representatives have allegedly impacted their work schedules and benefits, or have taken similar action against their family members who are also unionized.

Some of CUPE’s leadership has stood by its stance on the Israel-Hamas war despite condemnation from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan, and some of the union’s members.

CUPE Local 3906, which represents employees of McMaster University, said in an Oct. 10 statement that it “stands united against colonial occupation” in Israel. Though it does not condone violence, it said, it “stands in solidarity with those in decolonial struggle everywhere.”

Its national leadership also released a statement on Oct. 10 with stronger condemnation of the Hamas attacks while maintaining its position against Israel.

“We are horrified by the Hamas attack on Israel and the retribution by the State of Israel on the people of Palestine,” it said. “CUPE has long recognized the need for the Israeli government to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.”

For union members who don’t agree with CUPE, it’s “practically impossible” to withdraw their support, Mr. Vander Doelen said.

“You have to jump through so many hoops,” he said. “You basically have to go to court, and you have to have a lot of money to fight it in court in order to enforce the law. But even if you were able to do it, like I said, they'll make you pay.”