[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 246 (Wednesday, December 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71162-71163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-34007]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
Bureau of International Labor Affairs; U.S. National
Administrative Office; North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation;
Notice of Determination Regarding Review of Submission U.S. #9803
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. National Administrative Office (NAO) gives notice
that on December 18, 1998, U.S. Submission #9803 was accepted for
review. The submission was filed with the NAO on October 19, 1998 by
the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Teamsters Canada, Quebec
Federation of Labor, Teamsters Local 973 (Montreal), and the
International Labor Rights Fund. The submission raises issues of anti-
union motivated plant closing and delays in the union certification
procedure in cases involving multiple franchise business employers and
locations. The issues arose from efforts to organize employees of a
McDonald's restaurant in the city of St. Hubert, Quebec, Canada.
Article 16(3) of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation
(NAALC) provides for the review of labor law matters in Canada and
Mexico by the NAO. The objectives of the review of the submission will
be to gather information to assist the NAO to better understand and
publicly report on the Government of Canada's compliance with the
obligations set forth in the NAALC.
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 18, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irasema T. Garza, Secretary, U.S.
National Administrative Office, Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Avenue, N.W., Room C-4327, Washington, D.C. 20210. Telephone: (202)
501-6653 (this is not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 19, 1998, U.S. Submission #9803
was filed with the NAO by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Teamsters Canada, Quebec Federation of Labor, Teamsters Local 973
(Montreal), and the International Labor Rights Fund. The submission
raises issues of anti-union motivated plant closing and delays in the
union certification procedure in cases involving multiple franchise
employer and business locations.
The submitters allege that in February 1998, a franchisee of
McDonald's Corporation violated workers' rights to organize when it
closed its St. Hubert restaurant during the union certification
process. They assert that the Quebec Government violated Articles 2 and
3 of the NAALC by not providing a remedy for a plant closure based on
anti-union motives and not enforcing the freedom of association. The
submitters also assert that the absence of recourse procedures to the
individual workers who lost employment after the closure of McDonald's
constitutes a violation of Article 4(2) of the NAALC.
The submitters allege that efforts to organize employees of a
McDonald's restaurant in the city of St. Hubert, Quebec, Canada were
hindered by the union certification process. The submitters assert that
the Quebec Government's certification process violates Article 5(1) of
the NAALC which commits the Parties to ensure that administrative,
quasi-judicial, judicial, and labor tribunal proceedings are not
unnecessarily complicated and do not entail unreasonable time limits or
delays.
The procedural guidelines for the NAO, published in the Federal
Register on April 7, 1994, 59 FR 16660, specify that, in general, the
Secretary of the NAO shall accept a submission for review if it raises
issues relevant to labor law matters in Canada or Mexico and if a
review would further the objectives of the NAALC.
Submission U.S. #9803 relates to labor law matters in Canada. A
review would appear to further the objectives of the NAALC, as set out
in Article 1 of the NAALC, among them improving working conditions and
living standards in each Party's territory, promoting the set of labor
principles, and encouraging publication and exchange of information,
data development and coordination to enhance mutually beneficial
understanding of the laws and institutions governing labor in each
Party's territory.
Accordingly, this submission has been accepted for review of the
allegations raised therein. The NAO's decision is not intended to
indicate any determination as to the validity or accuracy of the
allegations contained in the submission. The objectives of the review
will be to gather information to assist the NAO to better understand
and publicly report on the freedom of association and protection of the
right to organize raised in the submission, including the Government of
Canada's compliance with the obligations agreed to under Articles 2,3,4
and 5 of the NAALC. The review will be completed, and a public report
issued, within 120 days, or 180 days if circumstances require an
extension of time, as set out
[[Page 71163]]
in the procedural guidelines of the NAO.
Signed at Washington, D.C. on December 18, 1998.
Irasema T. Garza,
Secretary, U.S. National Administrative Office.
[FR Doc. 98-34007 Filed 12-22-98; 8:45 am]
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