Labor Precedent

Alex McGarvey, a molder at Canadian General Electric's Davenport works in Toronto, did some union business on company time one day in 1949, over his foreman's objections. When the company suspended him for a week, McGarvey's fellow unionists in the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (Independent) retaliated with a 2 1/2day work stoppage. Last week an arbitration board ruled that the union had violated its contract, and must pay the company $9,208.40 for losses suffered.

It was the first time a Canadian arbitration board had been asked to assess company-claimed damages for breach of a collective agreement. As its defense, the union claimed that the stoppage was spontaneous and that it had ordered the men back. But, the board found, "it is not enough for the union to go through the motions of giving back-to-work orders . . . There must be prompt attempts to get the employees back to work ... It may be necessary . . . even to take disciplinary measures against particular members of the union." Said Bora Laskin, law professor at the University of Toronto who acted as chairman of the arbitration board: "[The ruling] reaffirms the very fundamental principle that if there is a breach of contract, the party in default has got to answer for the breach." And unless the board could assess damages, Laskin added, its ruling would be meaningless.

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