Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-1528.Parker et al.89-07-27 ~ ONTARIO EMPLO'ff,S DE LA COURONNE CROWN EMPLOYEES DEL 'ONTARJO 1111 GRIEVANCE COMMISSION DE , SETTLEMENT REGLEMENT BOARD DES GRIEFS 180 DUNDAS STREET WEST TORONTO. ONTARIO. M5G IZ8 SlJlTE 2100 TELEPHONE ITELEPHON.E 180. RUE DUNDAS OUEST TORONTO. (ONTARIO) M5G 1Z8 BUREAU 2100 (416) 598-0688 1528/88 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION Under THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT I I Before THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD Between: OPSEU (Parker et al) Grievor - and - The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Transportation) Employer Before: R.J Roberts Vice-Chairperson I . Freedman Member M. O'Toole Member For the Grievor. c. Hefley Counsel Gowling, Strathy & Henderson Barristers & Solicitors For the Employer: K Cribbie . Staff Relations Advisor Ministry of Transportation Bearing: June 13, 1989 ,- I AWARD This is a classification case which in some respects seems to be a case of first impression The 18 grievors are all classified in the classification of Technician 3 Survey They claimed in their grievances that they did not fit within the class standard for this classification, inter alia, because of the introduction of new technology which significantly altered their duties and qualifications For reasons which follow, these grievances are dismissed At the hearing, two of the grievors, Messrs Darnforth and Sloat, gave representative evidence of the duties and responsibilities of the qrievors This evidence indicated that all grievors were employed in the Southwestern Region of the Ministry Until recently, they carried out survey work on behalf of the Ministry using the well-worn tools of the surveying profession, i e , transits, levels, chains and rods. These instruments were used to obtain topographical and other data for I the use of the Ministry in preparing for and exet.uting its construction operations e g I the building of roadways ~ Generally, the grievors worked in crews Each crew was made up of a management employee. called a Party Chief, and three technicians generally Technician 3 Surveys like the grievors Tre data these crews obtained were recorded in notebooks Care was tayen to ensure that this information was in usable for;n i: 2 e g for the Draftspersons in the Ministry In the Southwestern Region. there were 8 survey crews There was evidence to indicate that in addition to their responsibility to take measurements, Technician 3 Surveys performed other duties, some of which did not find their way into the list of "typical duties" set forth in the class standard We do not intend to spend much time reviewing these duties because we regard them as peripheral to the main thrust of the case, however. they included knowledge of certain drafting techniques. the ability to read certain plans and engaging in field work for the purpose of bringing to a common scale aerial photographs of particular locations The main thrust of the case appeared to be that the class standard for Technician 3 Survey was outdated because of the advent of new technology which promises to alter dramatically the way in which surveys are performed and the way in which the I resulting information is recorded The most significant development, from the point of view of surveys, is the advent of . the Total Station System From the evidence at the hearing it seems that this system will render outmoded and consign to the past the use of levels, transits, chains and rods in performing surveying work The system involves the use of a computerized Geodirneter and a PrJ.sm The Geodimeter emits an infra-red ray which is refle<::t€ back by the Prism From the reflect€:d r"lY ~ 3 the Geodimeter automatically determines the co-ordinates of the point at which the Prism was set This reading is then assigned the proper code. e g , to designate that the co-ordinates are those of an edge of pavement or fence line and then stored in a computerized data collector usually attached to the leg of the tripod supporting the Geodirneter. After a number of such readings are made, they are "downloaded" by the Technician 3 or perhaps the Party Chief into the memory bank of a personal computer This is done on a regular basis because the data collector has a maximum memory capacity of 1 000 "shots" Once in the personal computer, the information can be cleaned up and manipUlated in certain ways to make it more useful to, e g . the Draftspersons who might be expected to prepare plans from it A further -- but comparataively minor -- technological development affecting the grievors is the use of Computer Automated Design (C A 0 ) It seems that eventually this system may be able to assist Draftspersons by prOducing from the data collected in the field a three dimensional represent~tion of the area being surveyed The evidence left us a little unsure of . the involvement of Field Technicians in this however. it seems that in order to generate information which is useful for CAD Field Technicians must encode their data into a computer program called M T C COGO The Technicians must know how to encode the information According to the evidenc~ of Mr Darnfort~ this 1::ype of encodlng would constitute :tbout 5% of t'~e duti.~s of A I: 4 Technician performing a survey known as a Legal Survey Apparently, CAD is primarily relevant to this type of survey, it is not used in, e 9 , an Engineering Survey Legal Surveys according to the evidence of Mr B Bell, the Head of Surveys and Plans for the Southwestern Region, constitute about 12% of the survey work of the region We were advised at the hearing that currently, the Southwestern Region has only two Total Stations Systems Because the Region has 8 crews, this means that the majority of the survey work must still be performed in the traditional manner, using transits and levels However, efforts are being made to rotate the Total Station Systems through the crews in order to at least begin familiarizing all Field Technicians with their use In addition, the Ministry is offering Field Technicians certain introductory computer courses which, inter alia, will assist them in understanding the operation of a disc operating system This can constitute helpful background enabling the employee to "download" data in the field r Mr Bell indicated in his testimony that he believed that a Field Technician would be capable of operating the Total Station System and data collector after about one week of training He agreed however, that he or she likely would not be able to "download" the data into the personal computer Mr Sloat however lndicated that It would take much longe;r for 3- fleld ... " 5 Technician to become competent in the use of the Total Station System He indicated that he was one of the first Field Technicians to be trained in the Total Station System and he also attended a computer course given by the Ministry on personal computers He has since then, he said, been teaching other Technicians how to operata the machine and store the data The class standard for Technician 3 Surveys reads as follows. This class covers employees who act as senior chainman for a legal land surveys They obtain precise linear measurements, assist in taking astronomical observations, assist with title searching in the registry office and plot information from field notes or deeds Q! These employees act as transitman and levelman on engineering surveys, without detailed instructions, on all routine phases of the work, taking field notes for alignment, topography, profiles and cross-sections OR These employees take charge of a sub-party working on a limited portion of a construction contract They carry .out control surveys for the precise setting of alignment and elevations of new construction and use standard survey techniques for the measurements of quantities Typical duties include completing level circuits laying out complex circular and spiral curves booking field notes in a standard manner, computing quantities of materials including c~m~lex shapes in concrete structures They assist in the supervision and training of junior members of the party and may act as party chief when required QUALIFICATIONS 1 Grade 12 or an equivalent combination of education and experience 2 Two years' experience and successful completion of the departmental e~amination OR three jears experience where an ~xamination does not 2yist ~ 6 3 Good physical condition The Board notes that the last revision to this class standard occurred in May, 1965 As such, it contemplated the use of standard survey techniques It did not contemplate that those techniques would be rendered obsolete and supplanted by new technology It was submitted on behalf of the grievors that because the foregoing class standard did not contemplate the fundamental changes in duties and qualifications required by the advent of this new technology, the class standard was so outdated that it could not be taken as applying to the current duties of the . grievors. See, e g , Re Ministry of Labour and Cabeza {1988}, G S B #0909/86 (Epstein) , at p 3 We were requested to make a declaration to this effect and refer the matter back to the Ministry for purposes of formulating a new class standard in accordance with the dictates of the Divisional -Court in the Berry case (1986), Case # 607/85 (Reid J ) For the moment at least, we are not inclined to so rule, and, accordingly, we must dismiss the grievances We agree that technological change in the work of a particular classification ~ay become so 8Ytensive at some point ~n time as to require a revision to be made or perhaps, a new class standard to be issued At the sar:1e ti"TIe we recogn~ze t"hat a ('lass stan::J.ard is ~ 7 not a job specification In classifying a job, the "typical duties" set forth in the class standard are not the sole determinants of classification Consideration also is given to whether a class standard is most appropriate to a job in terms of level of res]:lonsibility, complexity and qualifications of incumbents. With these considerations in mind we cannot say that at the Imoment the class standard for Technician 3 Survey has become so irrelevant to the duties and responsibilities actually performed by persons in that classification as to justify the issuance of an order from this Board requiring the Ministry to make a change Because there are only two Total Station Systems and 8 survey crews. the large part of the work of the grievors is still being performed according to the standard survey techniques contemplated in the existing class standard It is not yet so outdated, in terms of its description of "typical duties" as to justify the issuance of a Berry-type order Moreover. it is impossible to state in precise mathematical terms when that point - might be reached It seems to us that such a question must be approached on a case-by-case basis and likely will involve an evaluation of both quantative and qualitative factors It does seem that the computerizat~on ~nherent in the new technology will require the gr~evors to acquire new knowledge and perform new duties We make no determination as to whether the " ~ 8 new knowledge and duties might be of a higher or lower order than , those involved in the standard survey techniques contemplated by the current class standard On the evidence presented all that we can say is that they are different -- perhaps so different as to suggest that the Ministry contemplate changing the class standard if it decides to pursue a complete changeover to Total Stations Systems But, of course, that is not the situation presented in the case at hand The grievances are dismissed DATED at London, Ontario, this 27th day of July 1989 R J R be ;t:llv~,~ I Freedman Member 7J1 .z (~.V~L. . M O'Toole, Member ..