The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2002-0326.Raymond.04-08-27 Decision Crown Employees Commission de ~~ Grievance Settlement reglement des griefs Board des employes de la Couronne ~-,... Suite 600 Bureau 600 Ontario 180 Dundas Sl. West 180 rue Dundas Ouest Toronto Ontario M5G 1Z8 Toronto (Ontario) M5G 1Z8 Tel. (416) 326-1388 Tel. (416) 326-1388 Fax (416) 326-1396 Telec. (416) 326-1396 GSB# 2002-0326 2002-2094 UNION# 2002-0263-0020 2002-0263-0034 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION Under THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT Before THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD BETWEEN Ontano PublIc ServIce Employees Umon (Raymond) Grievor - and - The Crown In RIght of Ontano (Mimstry ofCommumty Safety and CorrectIOnal ServIces) Employer BEFORE FelIcIty D Bnggs Vice-Chair FOR THE UNION Scott Andrews Gnevance Officer Ontano PublIc ServIce Employees Umon FOR THE EMPLOYER Greg GledhIll Staff RelatIOns Officer Mimstry of Commumty Safety and CorrectIOnal ServIces HEARING July 15 2004 2 DeCISIon In September of 1996 the MmIstry of CorrectIOnal ServIces notIfied the Umon and employees at a number of provmcIaI correctIOnal mstItutIOns that theIr facIlItIes would be closed and/or restructured over the next few years On June 6, 2000 and June 29, 2000 the Umon filed pohcy and mdIvIdual gnevances that alleged vanous breaches of the collectIve agreement mcludmg artIcle 6 and artIcle 31 15 as well as gnevances relatmg to the filhng of correctIOnal officer posItIOns In response to these gnevances the partIes entered mto dIscussIOns and ultImately agreed upon two Memoranda of Settlement concernmg the apphcatIOn of the collectIve agreement dunng the "first phase of the MmIstry's transItIOn" One memorandum, dated May 3, 2000 (heremafter referred to as "MERC I" (MmIstry Employment RelatIOns CommIttee)) outhned condItIons for the correctIOnal officers wIllIe the second, dated July 19,2001 (heremafter referred to as "MERC 2") provIded for the non-correctIOnal officer staff Both agreements were subject to ratIficatIOn by respectIve prmcIples and settled all of the gnevances IdentIfied m the related MERC appendIces, filed up to that pomt m tIme The partIes contmued to negotIate and agree upon further condItIons regardmg the transItIOn matters MERC 3 was sIgned by the partIes on February 25, 2002 WhIle It was agreed m each case that the settlements were "wIthout prejUdICe or precedent to posItIOns eIther the umon or the employer may take on the same Issues m future dIscussIOns", the partIes recogmzed that dIsputes mIght anse regardmg the ImplementatIOn of the memoranda. Accordmgly, they agreed, at Part G, paragraph 8 3 The partIes agree that they wIll request that FehcIty Bnggs, VIce Chair of the Gnevance Settlement Board wIll be seIzed wIth resolvmg any dIsputes that anse from the ImplementatIOn of thIS agreement It IS thIS agreement that provIdes me wIth the jUnSdIctIOn to resolve the outstandmg matters Both MERC 1 and MERC 2 are lengthy and comprehensIve documents that provIde for the IdentIficatIOn of vacanCIes and posItIOns and the procedure for filhng those posItIOns as they become aVailable throughout varIOUS phases of the restructunng GIven the complexIty and SIze of the task of restnlctunng and decommIssIOmng of mstItutIOns, It IS not surpnsmg that a number of gnevances and dIsputes arose ThIS IS another of the dIsputes that have ansen under the MERC Memorandum of Settlement When I was mItIally mVIted to hear theses transItIOn dIsputes, the partIes agreed that process to be followed for the detennmatIOn of these matters would be vIrtually IdentIcal to that found m ArtIcle 22 16.2 whIch states The mediator/arbItrator shall endeavour to assIst the partIes to settle the gnevance by mediatIOn If the partIes are unable to settle the gnevance by medIatIOn, the mediator/arbItrator shall detennme the gnevance by arbItratIOn When determmmg the gnevance by arbItratIOn, the medIator/arbItrator may hmIt the nature and extent of the eVIdence and may Impose such condItIons as he or she consIders appropnate The medIator/arbItrator shall gIve a succmct decIsIOn wItllln five (5) days after completmg proceedmgs, unless the partIes agree otherwIse The transItIOn commIttee has dealt wIth dozens of gnevances and complamts pnor to the mediatIOn/arbItratIOn process There have been many other gnevances and Issues raised before me that I have eIther assIsted the partIes to resolve or arbItrated. However, there are stIll a large number that have yet to be dealt wIth It IS because of the vast numbers of gnevances that I have decIded, m accordance 4 wIth my jUnSdIctIOn to so determme, that gnevances are to be presented by way of each party presentmg a statement of the facts wIth accompanymg submIssIOns NotwIthstandmg that some gnevors mIght wIsh to attend and provIde oral eVIdence, to date, thIS process has been efficIent and has allowed the partIes to rem am relatIvely current wIth dIsputes that anse from the contmumg transItIOn process Not surpnsmgly, m a few mstances there has been some confusIOn about the certam facts or sImply msufficIent detail has been provIded. On those occaSIOns I have dIrected the partIes to speak agam wIth theIr prmcIples to ascertam the facts or the ratIOnale behmd the partIcular outstandmg matter In each case thIS has been done to my satIsfactIOn It IS essentIal m thIS process to aVOId accumulatmg a backlog of dIsputes The task of resolvmg these Issues m a tImely faslllon was, from the outset, a fonnIdable one WIth ongomg changes m MmIstenal boundanes and other orgamzatIonal alteratIOns, the task has lately become larger, not smaller It IS for these reasons that the process I have outlmed IS appropnate m these CIrcumstances Margaret Raymond held the posItIOn of Industnal Officer 2 at Vamer Centre She was m the process of settmg up a Pnnt shop at Vamer when It was announced that the Pnnt Shop would not be funded and she was surplussed She opted for redeployment and was assIgned to a vacancy at TRILCOR at Guelph as an I 0 2 Ms Raymond asserts that she was offered an IO posItIOn at Maplehurst or, m the alternatIve, she should have been offered an IO posItIOn at Maplehurst rather than at Guelph 5 It was alleged by the Umon, and the Employer dId not dIspute, that whIle the gnevor was settmg up the pnnt shop at Vamer she was told by her Immediate supervIsor that she would become the Pnntmg SupervIsor Indeed, there IS no eVIdence to suggest that thIS would not have happened but for the loss of fundmg for the Pnnt shop By all accounts her performance m the Pnnt Shop was good and the Employer wanted to be able to retam her servIces Unfortunately the lack of fundmg changed those best of mtentIOns SImply put, there IS no eVIdence that would lead me to find that Ms Raymond was offered a permanent posItIOn at Maplehurst Further, because both Maplehurst and Guelph are wIthm forty kIlometers of Vamer the Employer had the nght to send the gnevor to eIther locatIOn Accordmg to paragraph (a) of AppendIx 14 the Employer fills vacant posItIOns first The records mdIcate that there was a vacant posItIOn at TRILCOR at the tIme of her redeployment Therefore, I must find that there was no vIOlatIOn of the any Memorandum of Agreement or of the CollectIve Agreement To be clear, her assIgnment to TRILCOR was correct I was told that the gnevor was consIderably frustrated because she thought she was gomg to contmue to work at Vamer as a SupervIsor m the Pnnt shop because of mformal dIscussIOns she had wIth her manager I understand that fnlstratIOn and have sympathy for the gnevor However, there was no eVIdence that Ms Raymond was ever fonnally offered a Pnnt Shop SupervIsor posItIOn Indeed, because of the fundmg decIsIOn there was no Pnnt Shop SupervIsor posItIOn estabhshed. There was also a gnevance concernmg allegatIOns of dIscnmmatory treatment by the Employer because of the gnevor's dIsabIhty WhIle I understand that the gnevor was been absent from the workplace due to Ill-health, the Umon could not 6 prove to my satIsfactIOn that the gnevor had receIved anythmg other than her full nghts under the collectIve agreement F or those reasons, the gnevances are demed. Dateit T oronto ~ s 2ih day of August, 2004 r'" . ;;