Collective Agreement / Wage Increase

[xvxmattxvx]

I just have a quck question. I am not in the US but I am in Ontario, Canada. I realize this is just for US legal advice, but this question is pretty broad and as our laws are very similar it might be relevant. So I would greatly appreciate your advice. I can not a find a similar forum discussing Canadian law.

So here is how it goes. I was a member of the united steelworkers and I worked for a security company here in Toronto. GARDA was the company. I believe it is in the US as well, but they mostly do cash handling. I passed my probationary period which is 90 days OR a certain number of hours. I passed the hours so I am no longer a probationary employee.

On July 1st, 2009 the collective agreement stated there would be a %2.5 increase in the hourly wage. By this time I passed my probation period using the hours method rather than the days method.

Nobody in the company that I am aware of (I have asked many workers) have received their %2.5 increase. All were people who have worked for the company for years.

I asked the company about the %2.5 increase but nothing was done. They basically just shrugged it off. Typical.

I quit out of outrage. %2.5 is literally $0.28 more per hour and the pay was below industry standards already.

Want I want to ask is, is a collective agreement considered generally to be a legally binding, enforceable contract? If so, now that I quit, am I able to persue action to get back pay that is owed to me from the $0.28 per hour I was not getting? Or is the contract between the union and the company and only the union can persue legal action?

My second question is that they said I MUST return the uniform and pay for cleaning etc, to get my last paycheque. It will be taken off my last paycheque. With what I understand there are no preconditions to getting my pay, my pay is my pay and they must give it to me. If they want uniform cleaning costs they can only persue legal action, without my authorization they can not take the money out of my cheque or put any conditions on my last cheque. (I have not signed any papers at the beginning of my employment authorizing this that I recall.)

The way I look at it is if I worked at a cellphone service provider and I have an account with them. I am a bit behind on my bill, lets say $100, and I quit my job at the service provider. They have no right to garnish my wage for the $100 I owe them. I view this situation very similarly.

Anyways sorry for the long post, but any answers would be appreciated. I am more interested in the uniform/cleaning costs question. I know countries and states the law can change quite a bit, but just please answer me "generally" or "in most states" etc. I just want to see if my hypothesis is feasible at all.

Thanks!

[racer72]

US law only.

[xvxmattxvx]

Ok.

I just have a quick question. I am not in the US but I am in Ontario, Canada. I JUST want to KNOW ABOUT NEW YORK STATE LAW a what-if situation.

So here is how it goes. A guy was a member of the united steelworkers and he worked for a security company in New York City. The hypothetical employee passed his probationary period which is 90 days OR a certain number of hours. He passed the hours so he is no longer a probationary employee.

On July 1st, 2009 the collective agreement of his union stated there would be a %2.5 increase in the hourly wage. By this time he passed his probation period using the hours method rather than the days method.

Nobody in the company that he was aware of (He have asked many workers) have received their %2.5 increase. All were people who have worked for the company for years.

He asked the company about the %2.5 increase but nothing was done. They basically just shrugged it off. Typical he thought.

He quit out of outrage. %2.5 is literally $0.28 more per hour for him and his pay was below industry standards already.

Want he wants to ask is, is a collective agreement considered generally to be a legally binding, enforceable contract? If so, now that he quit, is he able to persue action to get back pay that is owed to him from the $0.28 per hour he was not getting? Or is the contract between the union and the company and only the union can persue legal action?

My second question is that lets say they told him he MUST return the uniform and pay for cleaning etc, to get his last paycheque. It will be taken off his last paycheque. With what he understands there are no preconditions to getting his pay, his pay is his pay and they must give it to him. If they want uniform cleaning costs they can only persue legal action, without my authorization they can not take the money out of my cheque or put any conditions on my last cheque. (He have not signed any papers at the beginning of my employment authorizing this that he can recall.)

The way he looks at it is if he worked at a cellphone service provider and he also has an account with them. If he is a bit behind on his bill, lets say $100, and he quit his job at the service provider. They have no right to garnish his wages for the $100 he owes them. He views this situation very similarly.

Anyways sorry for the long hypothetical post, but any answers would be appreciated. I am more interested in the hypothetical uniform/cleaning costs question in New York state.

Thanks!

[eerelations]

I am in Canada and have a strong working knowledge of both Canadian and American labour laws. This includes knowing that labour laws in New York state and the province of Ontario are very very very very very different.

So, do you really want to know about New York state law, or are you figuring that if you get information about New York state law it'll apply to your situation in Ontario because New York state happens to be geographically close to Ontario? (If the latter, you figure wrong.)

[eerelations]

I just read your posts a little more thoroughly and believe you're asking a Canadian question.

You should not have quit, you should have had the union get the money for you. Now that you've quit, the union probably can't do anything for you (though they probably can get the other still-employed SOs their pay increase).

You may file a claim for your last paycheque with the Employment Standards, however it will take them at least a year (more like 18 months) to process your claim. You'll get paid a heckuva lot faster if you just return the uniform.

[xvxmattxvx]

Thanks so much for your help.
At least it gave me an idea. Much much appreciation.