Reference no: EM133243215

Alberta Law

The Employer:

Big Blue Inn is a boutique hotel privately owned by the Murray McMoney, a local land developer. In addition to the hotel, McMoney owns a property management company, two nightclubs and a catering company. The workforce at the hotel is comprised as follows:

· Front Desk/Customer Service: 6 clerks, 4 porters, 1 concierge specialist,

· Kitchen: 1 head chef, 3 chefs, 4 cook assistants, 2 dishwashers

· Restaurant/Bar: 6 servers, 4 bussing assistants,

· Office: 2 secretaries, 1 accountant,

· Management: 1 General Manager, 2 Assistant General Area Managers, 1 Customer Service Manager, 1 Restaurant Manager

McMoney has contracted maintenance services to an outside company, B & S Maintenance Services. Four maintenance workers work at the hotel on a permanent basis and are supervised by one of the assistant general managers, who determines their workload and sets their working hours. B & S establishes their wage rate and benefits. There are six housekeepers who are independent contractors paid a per-room rate. Their contract outlines their working hours as 8am to 4pm five days a week (shifts rotate among the six workers in a set pattern) and stipulates a daily room quota that must be met. Cleaning and other supplies are provided by the hotel. The other assistant general manager supervises their work. Laundry services are contracted out to Quickie Clean Ltd., which picks up dirty laundry and delivers clean laundry daily.

All hiring, discipline and firing was conducted by the General Manager and Assistant General Managers. The two area managers supervised workers in their area, created schedules and conducted annual performance reviews. They participated in all managerial meetings regarding hotel operations.

Big Blue Inn workers successfully certified their union. Negotiations for a first agreement went poorly and dragged on for many months. The parties were in a legal strike/lockout position, having fulfilled all legal pre-conditions to a strike/lockout. CHEU provided strike notice and the workers went on strike. The parties took the following actions during the strike.

· The union set up a picket line at every entrance to the hotel. Picketers would stop every person wishing to enter the hotel to talk with them. If they were a member of the public they would let them enter after a few minutes delay. They refused to let managers pass.

· The employer hired replacement workers to keep the hotel running.

· The union set up a picket line at Quickie Clean Ltd., which had continued to perform laundry services for the hotel. At this picket line they delayed trucks by five minutes each.

· The union began setting up temporary picket lines (called "flying pickets") at McMoney's other businesses. At these lines they handed out information about the strike to passers-by but did not impede anyone's access to those businesses.

· The employer asked the government to order a vote of the employer's last offer.

· When the strike was settled, the employer insisted that it was keeping the replacement workers and was not re-hiring the striking workers, citing decreased business at the hotel.

1. Which of these actions are legally permitted? Why or why not?

2. For the actions that you determine are not legal, what would the party need to do differently to make that action (or similar action) legal? Why?