Former Western Star workers attempt to sue union

VANCOUVER, (April 13, 2004) — A group of former unionized workers from the closed Western Star Trucks plant in Kelowna, B.C. are claiming some of their own shop stewards took advantage of a share-gifting program after advising their members against participating in it.

The workers had sued the company and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 250 over a share-gifting program created in 1991 for Western Star employees. The program, under which the company would give at least 10 per cent of its Class A common shares to all regular full-time employees, had been imposed by the B.C. government as a condition for providing financial assistance to the truck company, which is now a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler.

The plaintiff workers say that when they sought the advice of their trade union, the shop stewards urged them not to accept free shares. The stewards said this would place them in a conflict-of-interest position with the company.

The union members had asked the B.C. Supreme Court to award damages for breach of contract and negligence, as well as an accounting and other relief.

But the court ruled it has no jurisdiction in deciding the case, saying it is better suited for the B.C. Labour Relations Board. However, Justice A.J. Beames did comment she was “satisfied” the union had breached its statutory duty to provide “fair representation” to its members.

In her judgement, Beames noted that while the shop stewards were recommending against the share, they, as employees of Western Star, were also exercising the option to acquire the gifted share themselves.

In 2000, DaimlerChrysler bought Western Star for $670 million and folded it under Freightliner LLC operations to go along side with the company’s other vocational truck division Sterling Trucks.

Two years later, Freightliner closed the Kelowna plant and consolidated all Western Star production at its main truck plant in Portland, Ore. The Kelowna facility employed about 675 workers at the time of the closure.

— from Canadian Press