Curious about the services that Franklin Law’s lawyers for Unionized Employees can provide to you
If you are a Unionized employee, believe you may benefit from one of the services that Franklin Law provides to Unionized employees, and are serious about fighting injustice at work, we want to meet with you.
Schedule a consultation today!
Franklin Law understands the challenges faced by individual Unionized employees and Union members from Toronto and across Ontario.
From the outset of the labour movement, there has been a solemn promise between Unions and the unionized employees and Union members that they represent. In most cases, Unions have made good on that promise and have done everything within their power to protect the interests of workers in their bargaining units and within the labour market more generally.
As a direct result, Unionized employees have historically earned higher wages, worked under better conditions, and have had access to stronger legal protections than their non-Unionized counterparts.
Unfortunately, far too many people tend to see Unionized employees and Union members as entitled and privileged workers – workers who are not at high risk of being exploited, discriminated against, harassed, or otherwise mistreated at work, who are well aware of their rights, and who are typically able to fight injustice at work by simply calling on their Unions for support and to represent them in the grievance arbitration process.
Franklin Law has a very different understanding of the experiences of Unionized employees. Like you, we understand that relationships between Unionized employees and their Unions can be complicated. Like you, we know that when that relationship has broken down, workers can feel helpless, powerless, isolated, betrayed, and disenfranchised, and often find themselves in incredibly precarious positions. Like you, we know that when a disenfranchised Unionized worker calls an employment law firm, a legal clinic, or a law firm that represents big Unions, 9 times out of 10 that employee is likely to be be told that they can’t go to court, there’s nothing that the law firm can do for them, they have to go through the grievance arbitration process, and their only option is to go back to their Union or give up.
Why would Unionized employees from Toronto and across Ontario seek out Franklin Law’s services?
Franklin Law is one of a few employment, labour, and human rights law firms in Ontario that is committed to supporting, advising, and/or representing individual Union employees who, for a variety of reasons, find themselves in the unfortunate situation of not being able to get the support, advice, or representation that they want or need from their Union.
Because of our extraordinary commitment to representing individual Union employees, many law firms who find themselves ill-equipped to represent individual Union employees, unable or unwilling to take the time to understand this complicated area of the law, or conflicted out of this work, repeatedly refer Unionized employees to Franklin Law for trusted support, advice, and representation. As a result, we have amassed over 12 years of experience representing individual Unionized employees and Union members in almost every labour, human rights, and occupational health and safety context imaginable. That experience has not only included a fair amount of success, it has also included a fair amount of “lessons learned” in situations that did not go as planned.
And because of our commitment to, and experience working with, all workers, Franklin Law is one of a handful of law firms in Ontario that is uniquely positioned to represent individual Unionized employees and Union members.
What services does Franklin Law provide to individual Unionized employees from Toronto and across Ontario?
Franklin Law’s labour lawyers, human rights lawyers, and occupational health and safety lawyers provide the following services to Unionized employees:
- Help Unionized employees to rebuild their relationship with their Unions.
- Provide Unionized employees with second opinions, and consult with Unionized employees about their legal rights, potential options, potential remedies, and potential risks inside and outside of the mediation process and/or grievance arbitration process.
- Represent Unionized employees in the grievance arbitration process with the express permission of their Unions.
- Represent Unionized employees in human rights-based discrimination, harassment, and reprisal complaints against Employers under the Human Rights Code, Canadian Human Rights Act, and other human rights-based legislation.
- Represent Unionized employees in occupational health and safety-based reprisal complaints against Employers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
- Represent Unionized employees in duty of fair representation (DFR) complaints against Unions.
- Represent Unionized employees in human rights-based discrimination, harassment, and reprisal complaints against Unions under the Human Rights Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act, and other human rights-based legislation.
- Represent Unionized employees in the grievance arbitration process where their Collective Agreements or home statutes provide that an employee can do so independent of their Union or Association.
- Represent Unionized employees in breach of contract cases against their Unions in the Courts when they believe that their Unions have breached the terms of Union Constitutions.
- Empower Unionized employees through a series of Union-focused courses and workshops.
If you are a Unionized employee or Union member, believe you may benefit from one of the services that we provide to Unionized workers, and are serious about fighting injustice at work, the labour lawyers, human rights lawyers, and occupational health and safety lawyers at Franklin Law want to meet with you.
Schedule a consultation today!