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Home My WebLink About1990-1412A.Wilson.92-08-19 ~. \< .-- ¡..--, ONTARIO EMPLOYÉS DE LA COURONNE CROWN EMPLOYEES DE L 'ONTARIO 1111 GRIEVANCE COMMISSION DE , SETTLEMENT REGLEMENT BOARD DES GRIEFS 180 DUNDAS STREET WEST, SUITE 2100, TORONTO, ONTARIO, M5G lZB TELEPHONE/TELEPHONE' (4161 326- 1388 180, RUE DUNDAS OUEST, BUREAU 2100, TORONTO (ONTARIO). MSG ¡Z8 FACSIMiLE:TELECOPIE. (4 '6) 326- 1396 1412A/90 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATrOB Under TBB CROWN BKPIDYBBS COLLECTIVB ØAR.GAINIHG ACT Before TBB GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD BETWEEB OPSEU (Wilson) Grievor - and - The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Natural Resources) Employer BEFORE: B. Fisher Vice-Chairperson G. Majesky Member D. Montrose Member FOR THE P. Lukasiewicz GRIEVOR Counsel Gowling, Strathy & Henderson Barristers & Solicitors FOR THB G. Anand EMPLOYER Counsel stringer, Brisbin & Humphrey Barristers & Solicitors HBARING January 28, 1991 May 24, 1991 June 11, 1991 November 7, 1991 ..' , 1 This is a classification grievance in which the Grievor t who is presently a Resource Technician 3 (RT3) with the Ministry of Natural Resources, sel~ks reclassification as a Resource Technician, Senior 1, (RTS1), or in the alternative, a Berrv order. The RT and RST class standards are attached. The essence of the GrievOf's case is that he falls within the second paragraph of the RST1 standard, which edited to pertain to the Forestry Services, reads as follows: 'Also included are position of employees who assist professi()nal staff e.g. Foresters, in the management of Forest Units, Private lands, etc. They participate in the development of management plans, prepare initial agreements with private land owners. prepare work plans and annual budget estimates, organize and schedule units work and exercise budget controls.· The Grievor is employed in the Wingham district. A copy of his position specification, which the Union contends is incomplete and partially inaccurate, is attached. A useful starting point is to compare the preamblEls to each series. RT1 RTS1 ~ ·Employees in positions allocated to 'Other positions EIre those of I this series may perform a variety of supervisors involved in the duties ranging from those of a implementation 01 varied and manual nal:ure requiring only a complex resourcEl management relatively elementary understanding of programmes. ' natural resource management to those of a technical nature requiring independent iudgement.' - - The Grievor is involved in four separate programmes; 1) Fuel Wood Programme. This programme assists privatI:! land owners in identifying and ~. " - ") .~; 2 I harvesting trees for commercial fuel wood purposes. I I 2) Commercial Marking Programme. This programme assists private land owners in the identification and harvesting of trees for lumber purposes, - 3) Tree Planting Programme. I 4) Seed Collection Programme. The Board heard extensive evidence on each of these programmes, and although they are undoubtedly varied. it seems that it would be a misnomer to call them complex. The first two programmes involve considerable physical effort by the Grievor actually walking through wood lots marking trees with yellow paint. The Grievor's involvement in the documentation was to fill. in the blanks on standard forms and agreements. The latter two programmes involve supervision of a group of casual employees in the manual work of tree planting and seed collection. It seems that these programmes fit nicely into the RT3 preamble reference to a variety of duties including ones involving of a technical nature requiring independent judgement. The RTS1 series refers to this position as including "employees who assist professional staff, e.g, Foresters, in the management of Forest Units, Private Lands", ·. . 3 The Griever's contention is that through ttle Fuel Wood Programme and the Commercial Marking Programme, he assists the Forester in tl1e management of Private lands, and through the Tree Planting Programme and the Seed Collection Programme he assists the Forester in the management of Forest Units, The evidence does disclose that the Grievor reports to Marvin Smith, a Management Forester. Furthermore, Steve Williams, District Forester for the Simcoe District. agreed with Union counsel on cross-examination that harvesting and regeneration were part of the Forestry Management cycle. Since the Grievor's work focused· on harvesting (Fuel Wood Programme and Commercial Marking Programme) and regeneration (Tree Planting Programme and Seed Collection Programme) it can be fairly said that the Grievor assists the Forester in thl:! management of Private Lands and Forest Units, Another element of the RTS1 is that they participate in the development of management plans. Mr. Williams testified that these plans are comprehensive documents containing hundreds of pages regarding the long range plans of a particular forest. There was no evidence to suggest that the Grievor participated in the development of thElse plans. The RTS1 classification refers to initial agreemants with private land owners. The Grievor testified that he prepared the following types of agreement; Fuel Wood Agreements, Timber Estimates, Timber Marking Agreement, Timber Sale Agreements. Samples of these agreements were presented as exhibits to the Board. It is clear that these forms are all standard form agreements, where the Grievor's involvement is little more than filling in the blanks with names, addresses, quantities, dates, types of tree, prices, etc. The Grievor has had no recent involvement in the more ~~ .i ) I"":: 4 comprehensive Woodlands Improvement Act agreements, in which the Ministry and the private land . .~. owner enter into a long term contractual arrangement for the management of private lands. . The reference to preparing initial agreement with private land owners must surely contemplate more than filling in a form with names and addresses, Rather it must include more of the complex aspects of preparing agreements, including analysis, negotiation, research, drafting of non-standard terms, and the like. We are not satisfied that the Grievor's participation in the preparation of initial agreements with private land owners is at the level required of a RTS1. The RTS1 classification refers to preparing work plans and annual budget estimates, The term "work planning" is defined in the RTS1 standard as follows: 'Planning over a relatively short period where the major factors are provided; e.g. objectives. specific targets, expenditure allotment, time limitations, areas, etc.' The Grievor claims that he prepares work plans for both the Tree Planting and the Seed Collection Programmes. With respect to the Tree Planting Programme, the Grievor's job is to . insure that the contractors comply with the provisions of their contract. He only gets involved when the contractors have been selected and the contracts have been signed. These contracts are quite e~ensive, The sample contract shown to us was 93 pages, including schedules. . The Grievor has some very limited flexibiJity in changing the terms of the contract, in .that he can negotiate with the contractor to change the number of trees to be planted at a certain . site where the environmental conditions necessitate such a change. .r :: 5 The Grievor's participation in the Tree Planting Programme is one of implementation of plans developed by others, It cannot be said that he plans (or to use the class standards terminology ''work planning") the work. The Grievor has no involvement in preparing the budget for the Tree Planting Programme as his job is to ensure the budget is met. Howevl3r preparing a budget is different from implementing a budget. As the RTS1 classification requires planning of the budget, the Grievor's duties in the Tree Planting Programme do not qualify under this factor. With respect to the Seed Collection Programme, the Grievor's involvement is more complex, He works closely with Management in planning what quantities and species of seeds his area can coUect. He recommends what prices the Ministry should pay to the contractors If the picking is contracted out he seeks out the picks and issues simple one page agreements entitled "Offer to Purchase Cones or Tree Seed". He then insures that the contractors comply with the agreements, However this more comprehensive involvement in the Seed Collection Programme does not necessarily take him out of the RT3 category as that c:lassffication refers to "organizing and scheduling actMties within the general frame work of laid down plans or instructions", As the Grievor I is only involved in providing information and recommendations to Management in terms of the quantities and prices of seeds, and not in determining those issues himself, it seems that the RT3 description more properly describes the Grievor's plannin!J aspects of the Seed Collection Programme, 3 ""- , r~ 6 The last aspect is supervision of staff, The relevant provisionsare as follows: RT3 RTS1 'They may supervise and/or train 'Organize and schedule units work regular employees or take charge of and exercise budge controls.' groups of casual employees ..... and assume responsibility for the quality and quantity of production and for the work performance of assigned staff' Unfortunately no evidence was lead before the Boards so we could determine what the "un if' was in this case. In Maloney (1761/87 Devlin) there was evidence to show that the District was divided in units by Order in Council. In our case all we know is that the Grievor worked in the Wing ham district, however we were not advised if the Wingham district was further subdivided into . units. In the absence of such evidence we can only assume that the Wingham district is the same as the unit. Although the Grievor may well take credit for organizing and scheduling the Seed Collection Programme throughout the Wingham District (or Unit), the RTS1 classification seems to require the organizing and scheduling of all work within that unit, not just one programme, All in all the grievor's limited supervisory and budgetary responsibilities seem better described by the RT3 classification, In summary it seems that the Grievor is not a RTS1. Moreover the RT3 classification adequately describes the Grievor's duties, so that a Berry award is not applicable, ,¡; 7 The Grievance is therefore dismissed. . Dated this 19th day of August, 1992 ISHEA - VICE CHAIR "I Díssent" (without written reason) GAAY MAlESKY - UNION NOMINEE \ ~~ ----.. '-.) D. MONTROSE - EMPLOYER NOMINEE .. ,.. I "\ · CATICiOaY : Technical ..rvlC.. QiROaP t 'tS-07 Ruc\U'cu Supp¢r~ ID.::ES ~ h~C. Technlclan / CLASS CODI: 41104 !>9¡ II c:u.5S StAJœAJlOS: · I 'RESOURCE T!tHNICIAN J .. I . This clus covers pos1doD.S of employees performiD¡ more complex, dema.ndin¡ IDi respoosible technical duties COQt&iAin¡ considerable 1&ti t1.Æie I for decidoD. IIII.lrl "' . .1. check sc&l.i.a.¡; cOIIpili.a¡ lake development cia ta; trainin¡ tire creY; operatia& type "e" pulu or type ·C" ba tcheries; , c:arryiD¡ ou~ 'ish aDd. Wildll!e lIIaZI&Iement aztd./or en!orcemer.t work; lathering, aueabliD.g W cQII~ilin¡ technical or scientific dau, preparing techniea.l · reportS aDd/or plau; assassin¡ technical needs ot lD&n.a¡ement or scientific : projects aM ,ubaittinC technical recOllllllend.atiol1l, etc. in &tl'f assigned area of responaibiliq. . I They IlaY supe:rTiae aDd/or train relUlu _ployees or take c~le of ¡roups of casual employees aDi, i.D this context, or¡wu aø:t schechùe activities vitbiD. the ¡eneral framework ot l&iå dow plans or irutru.ctions · . aDd a.uUlDe rupoasihility tor 'ûe qu&li~ and quantity of production &.ad for the work perfonaa.nce of &asiened It&t!. - . I SK~ AND KmWLEœE RmU!RED: Ability to ,or¡wu project.S and superri.le ÌJlplemenuuon; initia.tive am ability to usiaLilate new techniques to be applied in & nriety of rJ sÌ euatiOD.S; good. UbdersumiDc of re'~urce man&Ìemen~ principles. · n I I - I '. I I · · October 1. 1970. · · ;., · .' . ~ CLASS COOl: 41110 " . I¡,ð II \I> CUSS STANDARD: ~ RtSCURCE ttCHN:rCIAN. S~ICR ¡ This class cavers þositioul of emplare~1 responsible Qn a distri:t-.~~e . basi! tor technical coatrol ot & .ub-seM'ice; OR wUO act as senior usÌJl:a.ntS to ciistrict tec:.!mic&l or þ1"ofessiCDal specialists iJ:1 detenú:1:í..:11 ømods &.ad t~hz1iques, i.mplemnt:i.ac policy &Ad CCl!1troll..in, sta.nd&rå.s in ene or mere services an & dis~ct-wi~ø basis. Al30 included &re positions ot eJllployees wl:.o usin professi~a.a.l s:a.U e.g. Foresters, .BioloclSt31 eteq in. the n.m¡ement of Forest Cr.io:s, wke Units, Priv&te Lands, etc. They partic1~&te in the :1evelopDl!l1t of i2la.na.gement 'plans, prepare initial &¡reeme~ts vid:l, printe ~ owe:-s, prepare "woric þUZ1$ &J1l1'a.mNaJ. budget estiaus, orp.ni:e a.nc1 schedule wiits Wtlrk a.nå ~r~se , bud¡et cout:"fJls. PositioDs oi supenisors who en " year-round basis have ac:!miJUstntive resf)ODsibillty for a foral wt of orp.m:atiol1 (!UDCtiOna.l or ter:"Ítorial) U1d wo, in this cOD'ten, prel*n YOrk ¡ù.an3 W annual bud.get estimates, orga.ai:e and sched.ule the UDit's work II1d e.-œre1se bud¡et cOI1trols, a.re &..lso ,allocated to ~s level. PositiOI1S of employees iA charge Q! type "8" parks or type "B" hatcheries or seeond-in-chir¡e of ~e "B" tree nurseries, are included It this level. IA the Research Brueh, this class covers posidou.s of non-profusiQcal, fully tn.1.ned. and e:tperieneed. research usis'tl.J:ltJ in nriou~ d.i~ciplines of .scientific research Wo UDder direc:t:iO'~ of a Resureh ScientiSt, cal":'j QUt uSigned. ue.bnolopeal phases of rese¡,;rch a.a.d haTe full res~onsi bilitj for èe validi1:Y of obuined.. or processed Qa1:a IJ1l! the prepa.ntiOD. of reparc;5 inTol1'i..n¡ pre Ii ",i lU rr a.Dalysi s of such 4a u . SKIµ.S AND ~a.1LtGE RlCUIlt£D: 1. Supem.!ory ability'; some admim.nrative abilitY; ability to .:~r--l....i.:1a':e seTenl projects &.Då to prepare Wl;)rk pl&D.s j persoaal sui u bill ty '. 2. !:c'teuive lca.ovledge and thorougtl \mderS'tllofttf"ft! Qf objecdvu, IlI!th~~ &DÅ tedm:i.ques &pplieable to the ILssi¡ned vor!c ¡rea.; good wrkil1g kncvle4¡e of re1e~t legislation" . t ,~ · · October 1. 19':'0. · -- l',c+.... . , . . "}. ..... . ¡ ~ ,. ... J -- ,. CIC J -..-... - - -~ I --- · c:: - ..., I U ,............ __f f \ ~ r L_ ~- 'orel\ Ttcl'lnichll ot-.~n I tit ~!} i.--..,.,,--. f'õ::-¡--.....-.-. ...... r-- L. .,7 _0 .....0-.....0 ...0. J I I , ........ ,..... .. a. ... .... .... f\ \ ...... Forelt Technfchll I Ot·,soo--n . ".ource T.chnt ctln J U 104 · \ ~ - ...".1 .....".. - ....,;,;,;;.;:;;-;.".. .. .. ... I ............... ~ I ~ I IIfng"" DlItrtct III ng"'. . ·30605 ......... 1...........- ~ Ie' I......... --.....,..111. r-....·· -~.. · ..." __ ... r... . \ 1 0 I 0 Mlnlgøent Forester 09·aSOO-17 f\ L_.....___.._,_.., To recøamend. t~leMent, supervtlt and ISStst in tht Forest ",n.grment progra. On Açreelent -- Forests. crown land and prlvltl land. . l. Dwt.. Ind ..... -.a .- 10.......... _nd .. .... _ .... ..." ~.. _UIII .A _ _~1 .. - ......,. II l. PerfonlS technical forest ..nlge..nt duties on Agreement forests, cro~ Ilnd ,nd prlvlte land bI perfonltng Iuch tlsks IS: tOte I"ecoanendtng desirlllle proJeds to SU~rYfsDr Ifter tnspection (noting sfte potenthl · and condition of tree stands .te.) esti~ting ..npoWlf. .qui~nt costs. species type ® Ind quantttI ItC. . _ luperwislng selsonll stiff on such projects IS tree pllntlng. stand l.provtment. site preparltlon .tc. by instructlng and training 1n ..thads and techniques. chectfnt for qUllltl .nd qUlntttl of ~rt perfonltd. ..Intl1n1ng necesslry records (I.t. t1.. sheets · <5 .tc.) preparfny reports on COlIIpJfttd' Projectli t.... ..ricin, IIlOOdlotl. tree pllnting 011 pr1Ylt. Ind. notfng tile. costs. .tc. recommending chlnges IS necesSlry¡ .e.g.. 'Irlte~ - (j) stlrts. leu sUff .tc. , fnvestlgat1ng fnfrlctions of cutting operltions. on crown Ind prlYlte llnd. ensuring · ~ """".. ,f .1,,, ,,,.,,... "..."" .joo .""". .1" ."...."..tt... to .....",.. assistfng In preplrlt10n of MIps. reports, Ind recommendations of .ction etc. . ¡ ~rufs1ng. est1M1ting Ind Mlrtlng tiDblr IS required. · 2. PerfOnls rellted .uxi11ary dutt.s such IS: 10~""""jI"" t... .... ,."."." ,',j.c". ...."". ",t..c.. f.,. .,. .".,t'" seed Con dlliyeries. · ~ prep.rtng routfne correspondenc.~ i.e.. general inquiries on forest ~n.gement .nd handling nursery stock IppliClt10ns etc. cont'd.... ... Sklllt Ind \¡_...... ,....... 10 ..rf_..... hiD -'úftI...... 1'_. _..... __ '" ~. "___10' Graduat10n fro. In approved cours. in resource management. Good tnowledge of silviculture and forest JMUUl~rltfon. .tc. Abfllty to supervise wort proJects Ind deal tlctfully wfth th. public. Villa ".1.'. drfver's licenc.. Good commun1cltion skitts. ~ortng tnowledge cont 'd..... .. ....... ....-w ___ - 7~ - '"" t26fu~ ~I;; 18ë ",,poÆ ..~.. 12Ÿ:1ö7 ¡? N. l. Søith Robert P. Wells, Acting Distr1ct Hanlg.r .. C1Ia ~ C1no ,"" ICtoto - rtloftol.- ~-I (,*,,,".. - 0.... 1IIcon.. y- '. Relouru TechniciaD 3 41104 TS·01 01 I 06 I 88 I ..... d..øIooIl .. poooIdoto .. ___.1Il ... Ørf....... ~ (;lo0oi"",,- ''''-.101 .... '-.. -: A. Perfo~ ~re c~le.. de-.ndlo, aad re'poD.ible techDical duti.. cont.inin, coo.idfr.ble latitude for deci.iOQ-.akin,. e.l. rec~Ddinl projecta. iDY..ti,.tift& infractionl of cuttin, operadOll', _kí#. tedlni~.l tec-'lddion., Ifte. .. ath.tl. ....-bl.. aad c~i1e. technical data Ind report.. e.,. preparin, report. on c~lete. project.. . , Supervil.a ....oaal ltaff Oft IUch projecta al tree planin,. Itand improvement, lite , Co preperattoo. etc~ · 1la-- fII.............. IIftI T_ ............. - tß-t P rd.J I Clw ..... ". I Ð. C. Vatt 1-r 1/6 I?F ~.1(17Í "'-. ,.., .. · ,. \ , .. ,. J. M'..... N'OWII MI.. ~.. ... .'. c <:: "~tft' 1,et.,.I, ...tfnfl, ItC. '0' 4·M (l.bl. Ichool.. to fn'o"l thl publ'c I' , IU"'tt'1 I ,t_. _Stet"-", ,tc. COftductttl, ft". tOUr, .. nqllh',", . .I...t'ft, Ithl, ..rwtc.. ,du,tn. ...,..nct.. .nd pe.k pertod' (ft,.. ,tsh .~ vlldlt", ,..rh .tc.) · . .1lfnl .nd .pplrfn, ,..tr"". I. re~'''d, Ü 1"11 t ,"". , 4. SkUh .nd bowl.. requtNd to IIIrlorw JotÞ at hill _rid", 1,..1 ca.t '~. · of tilt Occup,tion,l Hultll .nd Stf'ty Act 'fld tflos. "vuhtlo"l ..de und,,. tilt Act tll't 'PpJl to Chi .art Iupervll,d or eønt~ll~. V,'fd ~.O.E. lfeeft..1 fOr .pplfc.tfon of htrbtc j or (fts.ettetde, (Land (Kt,na'",to' Cl~"'l 1 and 3). V,lid St, John', ~u"nt' stAndArd · 'frst Itd c.rttfle,t.. or .quiv.1,nt. · · · . · - I · n . . I J I . I I I . I , \ - - . ..