April 2025
At some point it becomes necessary to replace your cleaning or security company. The Board meets to discuss this and the condominium manager informs that the current company is now unionized.
A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) exists between any company and a union representing its employees. This is a written legal contract between an employer and a union representing the employees. It is the result of negotiation between the parties on wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment. Your current employees have a CBA that must remain in place regardless of which company, unionized or not, takes over.
When soliciting bids from other companies, both unionized and non-unionized, it becomes clear what this means. Unionized companies may charge more for their services, and non-unionized companies refuse to submit bids. If a new company were to accept your business, this would require that they become unionized which they do not want. This is what condominium corporations, hospitals, municipalities and private companies throughout Ontario must contend with when seeking new building service providers.
When a building service provider replaces an existing unionized building service provider, that new provider must recognize the bargaining rights of the trade union representing current employees, and must apply the CBA of the outgoing company. While it may be that all employees of the former company no longer work at your community, this requirement applies.
The realization of how this legislation affects condominium communities has been slow. Prior to 2018, employees could choose to unionize or not, and condominium corporations could choose to employ unionized or non-unionized companies. When a new service provider took over at a condominium building with unionized employees, those employees could apply to the union in place at the building, select a different union or decide not to be part of a union. There is no longer a choice. Employees working for a non-unionized company must become unionized, and condominium corporations can no longer employ non-unionized individuals.
One of the consequences of this is that a condominium corporation is forced to abide by a CBA they were not involved in drafting and that may not be in their interest. Condominium management and boards may have to deal with multiple unions and CBAs requiring very different processes for dealing with employees and changes to working situations. These agreements may, for example, prevent condo directors from speaking with or directing employees in how they do their work. It may force directors to work through their condominium manager to which most employees report. Employing lower cost non-unionized individuals and more flexible working arrangements may no longer an option.
Both administrative and staffing costs are expected to rise for condominium communities forced to accept unionized employees.
