In Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited, 2025 BCLRB 67, a decision released on March 18, 2025, the British Columbia Labour Relations Board (the "Board") upheld the constitutionality of statutory restrictions on secondary site picketing.
The Board confirmed that sections 65(3) and 65(8) of the Labour Relations Code (British Columbia) do not infringe upon the Charter-protected freedoms of expression or association. These provisions limit the ability of union members on strike or locked out to picket at employer-operated sites that fall outside the bargaining unit and are not directly tied to the labour dispute.
Background
The decision arose from a dispute involving Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited, which operates gaming and entertainment venues across British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. When workers at one of Gateway's B.C. facilities went on strike, the union sought to extend its picketing efforts to the employer's other locations. However, those sites were not part of the bargaining unit and remained fully operational throughout the dispute.
The union argued that the employer's ability to rely on revenue from its non-struck locations effectively undercut the union's bargaining power. In their view, prohibiting picketing at those sites impaired their ability to meaningfully pressure the employer and therefore infringed on their Charter rights.
At its core, the union's argument was that if the employer could leverage its broader operations to withstand a 19-week strike, then the union should be permitted to apply pressure across those same operations.
The Board's decision
The Board, while acknowledging that the right to picket generally was protected under both the Charter's freedom of expression and freedom of association, ultimately ruled that the restrictions on secondary site picketing were constitutional and should continue to be enforced. The Board determined that the Charter protections do not extend to the right to picket locations that are not part of the bargaining unit or directly involved in the bargaining dispute.
The Board emphasized that the Charter protects the right to collective bargaining, but that right is meant to apply to the direct relationship between the union and the employer with whom they are negotiating.
As Paul Weiler, the Board's inaugural chair, noted, "... unions should not be permitted to picket the place of business of a third party. Such a secondary employer is not involved in the primary dispute, it does not have it within its power to make the concessions that will settle the new contract, and thus it should not be the target of a weapon whose legitimate purpose is to extract such economic concessions."
Impact on employers
This decision is a clear win for employers, as it reinforces the principle that unions cannot engage in secondary picketing at locations that are not directly part of the dispute. The ruling prevents unions from targeting non-struck locations in an attempt to pressure the employer from multiple fronts, which could otherwise disrupt operations at unrelated sites.
For employers, this decision also underscores the validity of section 65 of the Labour Relations Code, which is designed to prevent disruptive and unnecessary picketing at locations that do not directly involve the union's dispute with the employer.
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