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44C: Effect of opting out
or “This explains what happens when you choose not to be part of a group agreement at work.”
You could also call this:

“ Unions need special voting before they can ask many bosses to make one big work agreement together ”

If you’re a union wanting to start bargaining with two or more employers for a single collective agreement, you need to follow some rules. This also applies if you’re two or more unions wanting to bargain with one or more employers for a single agreement.

Before you start bargaining, you need to hold separate secret votes for your members who work for each employer you want to include in the bargaining. You can only hold these votes if your members aren’t covered by a current collective agreement, or if they are covered by one but the vote is held no more than 60 days before you can start bargaining under section 41.

The vote is decided by a simple majority of the members who are allowed to vote and who do vote. If two or more of these votes result in a decision to bargain for a single collective agreement, you can start the bargaining process. You do this by giving a notice to each employer where the vote was in favour of bargaining, as described in section 42.

When you give this notice, you need to include some extra information for each employer whose employees voted. This includes the employer’s name, how many of their employees are members of your union, how many of these members voted, and how many voted in favour of bargaining for a single collective agreement.

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Next up: 46: Terms of question for secret ballot

or “The secret ballot asks workers how they want to negotiate together for a work agreement.”
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Part 5 Collective bargaining
Bargaining

45One or more unions proposing to initiate bargaining with 2 or more employers for single collective agreement

  1. This section applies to—

  2. 1 union proposing to initiate bargaining with 2 or more employers for a single collective agreement:
    1. 2 or more unions proposing to initiate bargaining with 1 or more employers for a single collective agreement.

      1. Before bargaining for the single collective agreement is initiated under section 42, the union or each union (as the case may require) must hold, in accordance with its rules, separate secret ballots of its members employed by each employer intended to be a party to the bargaining.

      2. A secret ballot may be held only if the members of the union employed by the employer are—

      3. not covered by an applicable collective agreement that is in force; or
        1. covered by an applicable collective agreement that is in force and the secret ballot is held not earlier than 60 days before the time within which bargaining may be initiated by the union under section 41.

          1. The result of a secret ballot of members of the union employed by an employer is determined by a simple majority of the members who are entitled to vote and who do vote.

          2. If, at the conclusion of the secret ballots, 2 or more secret ballots have resulted in a decision in favour of bargaining for a single collective agreement, then the union proposing to initiate bargaining for a single collective agreement may initiate bargaining by giving a notice in accordance with section 42 to each employer in respect of which a secret ballot has resulted in a decision in favour of bargaining for a single collective agreement.

          3. The notice must include the following additional information in respect of each employer whose employees voted in a secret ballot:

          4. the name of the employer; and
            1. the number of the employer's employees who are members of the union; and
              1. the number of those members who voted; and
                1. the number of those members who voted in favour of bargaining for a single collective agreement.