HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-1948.O'Brien.00-12-07 Decision
o NTARI 0 EMPLOYES DE LA COL'RONNE
CROWN EAIPLOYEES DE L 'ONTARIO
GRIEVANCE COMMISSION DE
. . SETTLEMENT REGLEMENT
BOARD DES GRIEFS
180 DUNDAS STREET WEST SUITE 600 TORONTO ON M5G 128 TELEPHONElTELEPHONE, (416) 326-1388
180 RUE DUNDAS OUEST BUREAU 600 TORONTO (ON) M5G 128 FACSIMILElTELECOPIE. (416) 326-1396
GSB #1948/93 179/94 236/94
OPSEU#93F955 94A574 94A608
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontano PublIc ServIce Employees Umon
(O'Brien)
Gnevor
- and -
The Crown m RIght of Ontano
(Mimsm of the SolIcItor General and CorrectIOnal ServIces)
Employer
BEFORE Deborah JD LeIghton Vice Chair
FOR THE Tim Hadwen, Counsel
GRIEVOR OntarIO PublIc ServIce Employees Umon
FOR THE Len Mam
EMPLOYER Counsel, Legal ServIces Branch
Management Board SecretarIat
HEARING November 2,2000
ThIS IS the thIrd decIsIOn made pursuant to the Minutes of Settlement, dated March
13,2000, agreed to by the partIes to finahse the outstandmg Issues relatmg to the
ImplementatIOn of the Memorandum of Settlement, made on order of the board on
August 1, 1995 (the ongmal settlement)
As part of the process of finahsmg the outstandmg Issues the partIes agreed
to further Minutes of Settlement on October 12,2000 regardmg the Issue of
"partIcIpatIOn of women correctIOnal officers m the workplace and the
ImplementatIOn of the Employment Systems RevIew (the ESR Report) Task Force
Report (1994)" The partIes agreed that a workmg group would be struck to
address the remammg Issues regardmg artIcle 22 and 24 of the ongmal settlement,
and would begm work the week of November 20,2000
The umon requested productIOn of documents and mformatIOn, whIch It
seeks m order to facihtate the workmg group's dIscussIOns The employer
produced certam documents and mfonnatIOn as requested and undertook to search
agam for certam documents, prevIOusly not found, by November 15,2000 The
employer objected to producmg the Mimstry's current work-m-progress of the new
"Human Resources Plan" and to a survey of the work force The decIsIOn denymg
the Umon's motIon was rendered wIthout reasons on November 14,2000 The
followmg are the reasons for that decIsIOn.
The UnIOn's Submission
The umon requested the work-m-progress on the Human Resources Plan
currently bemg developed by the Mimstry Umon counsel argued that m order for
the workmg group to engage m meanmgful dIscussIOns on the remammg Issues as
IdentIfied m the October 12,2000 mmutes tlns mfonnatIOn was CruCIal The umon
submItted that whIle the employer may not be able to agree to produce the current
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work on the plan, It would be appropnate for thIS board to order It. The Issue of
confidentIahty could be addressed m the order of the board.
The umon also sought an order from the board reqmnng the employer to
survey the Mimstry's work force for mformatIOn on the "desIgnated groups" as
IdentIfied m the ESR Report as
1 Persons wIth dIsabihtIes,
2 Abongmal peoples,
3 Francophones,
4 Racial mmontIes and women.
The umon receIved the statIstIcal mformatIOn on women from the employer on
October 4, 2000 and sought the same kInd of mfonnatIOn regardmg the other
groups It seeks a survey of the workforce for mformatIOn on, for example, how
many racial mmontIes hold management posItIOns, and how many have bargammg
umt posItIOns (OPSEU) It sought specIfic mfonnatIOn for each category as
IdentIfIed m the October 4,2000 statIstIcs provIded on gender
Counsel submItted that the mfonnatIOn was necessary for the workIng group
to fully address the Issue of systemIc change for women m the Mimstry It was
Mr Hadwen's submIssIOn that many women are also members of other
dIsadvantaged groups In order to achIeve equalIty for women the whole
enVIromnent needs to be consIdered. Mr Hadwen submItted that tlns request IS
consIstent WIth the Terms of Reference that state that one purpose of the
SystematIc Change Programme IS
To mamtam an enVIronment whIch IS faIr, eqmtable and free from all forms
of dIscnmmatIOn and harassment.
In Ins submIssIOn, the request was also consIstent WIth the ongmal settlement that
acknowledged the WDHP and specIfic ally agreed to contmue "reasonable efforts
to Implement the recommendatIOns of the 1994 ERC Report In the alternatIve
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counsel for the umon submItted that a survey of women In the Mimstry should be
done to IdentIfy If they are members of any dIsadvantaged group
The Employer's Submission
The employer opposed both the requests for the work-m-progress on the
Human Resources Plan and the survey Counsel for the employer, Mr Marvy,
argued that the ongInal settlement specIfically addresses women. ArtIcle 22 of the
settlement provIdes
22 The Mimstry agrees to work wIth OPSEU In develoPIng and
ImplementIng a SystemIc Change Programme whIch shall be desIgnated to
ehmInate the barners to full workplace partIcIpatIOn of women correctIOnal
officers In the Mimstry generally and In partIcular at the Windsor Jail
Further the mInutes of settlement sIgned by the partIes on March 13,2000 was
made In the context of finahsIng the ongInal settlement by agreeIng to a method of
resolvIng the outstandIng ills putes The outstandIng Issues were IdentIfied as
IncludIng the "S 14" Issue - a short form understood by the employer to refer to
the Issue of access vs barrIers to work for women. Mr Marvy argued that the
essence of the ongInal settlement was to creae SystemIc Change Programme for
women In the Mimstry Thus the request for thIS survey InfOrmatIOn goes beyond
the ongInal settlement Further, In counsel's submIssIOn the request broadens the
scope of the task to Include groups that were not specIfically named In artIcle 22
Counsel submItted that never before had the umon IndIcated that the S 14 Issue
Included other desIgnated groups Moreover, In counsel's submIssIOn the request
IS InCOnsIstent WIth the March 13,2000 settlement that was workIng towards
finahsIng the SystemIc Change Programme
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Counsel submItted that It would not produce the work-m-progress on the
Human Resources Plan for the Mimstry and asked the board not to order Its
productIOn.
Reasons for the DecIsion
I carefully revIewed the ongmal settlement, the recent mmutes of settlement,
dated March 13,2000 and October 12,2000, the correspondence m the umon
document bnef of June 23, 2000, and the submIssIOns of the partIes and concluded
that the survey of desIgnated groups - persons wIth dIsabIhtIes, abongmal people,
Francophones and racial mmontIes - requested by the umon IS outsIde the scope of
the ongmal settlement ArtIcle 22 clearly states that the SystemIc Change
Programme IS to be desIgned to ehmmate bamers to full workplace partIcIpatIOn of
women correctIOnal officers m the Mimstry
Further, I was persuaded that the partIes have understood the "S 14 Issue to
relate to women only In "Notes of a meetmg of the SystemIc Change Steenng
CommIttee on December 13, 1999" (Tab 8, Umon Document bnef June 23, 10000)
the commIttee hsted Issues where the partIes had reached agreement and those for
whIch they dIsagreed. S 14 IS hsted under "Areas of Major DIsagreement" With
other Issues as follows
4 GENDER IMBALANCE OPSEU beheves that SectIOn 14 of the OHRC
can be used and does not want to remove the Item from the SystemIc
Change Table
ThIS notatIOn clearly tIes the Idea of gender to the Issue of whether S 14 of the
Ontano Human RIghts Code can be used m developmg the SystemIc Change
Program An order for survey mfonnatIOn that goes beyond mfonnatIOn on the
gender balance Issue IS therefore not supportable
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The work - In-progress on the Human Resources Plan IS likewIse beyond the
scope of the ongInal settlement An order to produce It was not necessary to
Implement the ongInal settlement
It IS the reasons noted above I hereby dIsmIss the umon's motIon for
productIOn.
Dated at Toronto, thIS 7th day of December, 2000
D.J D LeIghton, V Ice-ChaIr
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