Sask. company accused of threatening staff during bid to unionize

A 2019 image of the NSC Minerals facility in Vanscoy from the company's Facebook page. (Source: Facebook / NSCMineralsLimited)

Warning: The following article contains language some readers may find offensive.

A rock salt manufacturer in rural Saskatchewan is being accused of using intimidation tactics to suppress a campaign to unionize among its staff.

In a decision released late February, the provincial labour relations board said managers at NSC Minerals in Vanscoy made statements in a mandatory all-staff meeting that could be perceived as threats against workers found to be organizing with the prospective union, United Steelworkers (USW).

A staff member audio recorded the Jan. 30 meeting, later shared with the labour board by a USW representative.

According to the report of board chair Michael Morris, NSC managers asked for a show of hands in response to the question “who likes working here?”

“I thought it’d be good to sit everybody down and let you know what it looks like if they do, I say, weasel their f**king way in,” one manager said.

The management team encouraged staff who got a call from USW to find out who shared their number and report the information to management.

“If I ever found out who did it, that wouldn’t be a very nice day for them; simple as that. Because I put 11 years of my life into this place.”

The managers said the unionization effort was the act of a "disgruntled f**khead with a burr in their ass,” possibly a recent hire, who “doesn’t have the balls” to say they’re unhappy.

“I don’t know who it is, but I guaran-f**king-tee you he’s in this f**king room … and he’s going to ruin it for people that have invested a lot of f**king time into this place.”

They told employees that newer staff haven’t been able to “get that taste” of overtime work, but they shouldn’t base their ideas of the company on what they experienced in the last year.

On Jan. 31, USW filed a certification application for the employees at the Vanscoy facility.

The following day, the union filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the labour board over the managers’ statements.

After learning of the heated all-staff meeting, Morris says NSC General Manager Nelson Schutz returned from vacation early to denounce the warnings of the Vanscoy management team.

“I want you to know that those statements are not the official position of the company and are false. To the extent anything like that was communicated, I retract and repudiate any such message,” he told staff in a meeting at the Vanscoy facility on Feb. 6.

In the weeks that followed, the union’s application to certify was withdrawn and resubmitted, and two employees were let go.

The company said one worker, Clayton Hamm, was laid off because of a “lack of work,” while Bryce Nelson was terminated over two recent safety violations — failing to clean equipment, and later failing to lock out a machine when replacing a belt on a conveyor.

In his defense, Nelson said a more experienced employee was showing him how to repair the conveyor and he was working under their direction. They had pulled the emergency stop cord, but failed to make sure the equipment was fully de-energized.

Schutz later testified the other employee was merely an observer to the incident, but Morris pointed out that his account relied on hearsay, while Nelson’s evidence was first-hand, and seemed to concur with a statement from the other employee.

In its affidavit to the labour board, the union shared a statement from a separate employee who asked to be laid off just weeks prior to Hamm but was denied by the plant manager Adam Rogne, “because NSC had too much work,” Morris wrote.

USW organizer Gord Hiebert testified NSC employees had told him that both Hamm and Nelson were seen as the ones who got the union involved. He also said NSC employees expressed concern they would lose their jobs if they attempted to organize, or even admit to having talked to the union.

The union called on the labour board for interim relief to reinstate the two employees prior to the upcoming vote to certify the union. This would have the two men back on the job while the board fully assessed the unfair labour practice complaint.

Under Saskatchewan labour law, an application for interim relief has a lower standard of proof than what’s required to prove an unfair practice.

For interim relief, USW just had to make an “arguable case” that there was an unfair labour practice, and that — on balance — the union would suffer greater harm from the refusal of relief than the company would.

In its submissions, NSC acknowledged it was “a pretty low bar” to meet, but argued USW hadn’t reached it.

Heibert provided only innuendo from unnamed employees to suggest the company considered Nelson a part in the unionization bid, NSC said.

The company also said it took steps to remedy potential harms from the Jan. 30 meeting — notably the statement from Schutz, the GM.

The labour board sided with the union in the application to reinstate Nelson. Morris said the evidence suggested Nelson was subject to a different process than the other worker involved in the conveyor incident.

The company reinstated Hamm, the laid off employee, prior to Morris’ ruling. He says the board was not told why.

The vote to certify the union closed on March 7. CTV News contacted USW for the result, but has not yet received a response.

It’s not clear if USW will continue to pursue the unfair labour practice complaints if it doesn’t pass the certification vote.

Vanscoy is located about 30 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon.