Your Rights as an Employee
Guidelines for minimum labour standards are available from the provincial government. A Guide to Employment Standards is available on-line at www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards/pdf/manual.pdf.
Remember, your rights only have meaning when you understand and exercise them!
Unionizing
More and more students have jobs while going to school. Typically, these jobs are low paying and often involve shift work and no protection of your rights. Just as students need a students’ union to support and defend education, working students need labour unions to protect their rights and win better working conditions.
The minimum wage is just that—a minimum. Unions try to do better, to improve the standard of living of their members. Having a unionised job is the best guarantee that someone in Canada will be able to rise above the poverty level. Union jobs pay an average of over four dollars an hour more than other jobs, and women typically earn almost fifty percent more in unionised workplaces. The gains are even greater for part-time workers.
It also pays off in other ways. Unionised workplaces have fewer health and safety problems, and will help you if you need to make a Workers’ Compensation claim, a harassment complaint, or another complaint against your employer. Unions also work to protect people from harassment in the workplace, often secure benefits like health and dental coverage for members, and offer services like assistance with filing income tax claims. Educational and lobby campaigns are also frequently organized by unions to help improve everyone’s standard of living.
IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO JOIN A UNION
The Manitoba Labour Relations Code protects your right to join, support, and organize a union. If you are harassed or intimidated because you support a union, call the Manitoba Labour Relations Board right away. When workers want to join a union, bosses will sometimes try to intimidate them. You don’t have to put up with it. Employers are also not allowed to interfere in the union.
If you work for the federal government or in certain federally regulated areas, the Canada Labour Code, not the provincial code, protects your rights.
For more information on labour unions in Manitoba, contact the Manitoba Federation of Labour at www.mfl.mb.ca.
Workplace Health and Safety
Did you know that one third of all workplace injuries happen to those aged 15-24 years? Forty percent of all injuries suffered by workers throughout their careers happen in the first six months on the job. You have the right to refuse to do work that is unsafe or dangerous.
Check out www.workersoftomorrow.com for student-oriented resources on workplace health and safety.