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Home My WebLink About2006-0101.Speller.07-03-28 Decision Crown Employees Grievance Settlement Board Suite 600 180 Dundas Sl. West Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8 Tel. (416) 326-1388 Fax (416) 326-1396 Commission de reglement des griefs des employes de la Couronne Nj ~ Ontario Bureau 600 180, rue Dundas Ouest Toronto (Ontario) M5G 1Z8 Tel. : (416) 326-1388 Telec. : (416) 326-1396 GSB# 2006-0101, 2006-1164 UNION# 2005-0108-0077,2006-0108-0034 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION Under THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT BETWEEN BEFORE FOR THE UNION FOR THE EMPLOYER HEARING Before THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Speller) - and - The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services) Felicity D. Briggs Stephen Giles Grievance Officer Ontario Public Service Employees Union Lucy Neal Senior Staff Relations Officer Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services January 22, 2007. Union Employer Vice-Chair 2 Decision Further to submissions made by the parties at the hearing on January 22, 2007, this decision supersedes and amends a decision originally released November 24,2006. In September of 1996 the Ministry of Correctional Services notified the Union and employees at a number of provincial correctional institutions that their facilities would be closed and/or restructured over the next few years. On June 6, 2000 and June 29, 2000 the Union filed policy and individual grievances that alleged various breaches of the Collective Agreement including Article 6 and Article 31.15 as well as grievances relating to the filling of Correctional Officer positions. In response to these grievances the parties entered into discussions and ultimately agreed upon two Memoranda of Settlement concerning the application of the collective agreement during the "first phase of the Ministry's transition". One memorandum, dated May 3, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as "MERC 1" (Ministry Employment Relations Committee)) outlined conditions for the correctional officers while the second, dated July 19,2001 (hereinafter referred to as "MERC 2") provided for the non-correctional officer staff. Both agreements were subject to ratification by respective principles and settled all of the grievances identified in the related MERC appendices, filed up to that point in time. While it was agreed in each case that the settlements were "without prejudice or precedent to positions either the union or the employer may take on the same issues in future discussions", the parties recognized that disputes might arise regarding the implementation of the memoranda. Accordingly, they agreed, at Part G, paragraph 8: 3 The parties agree that they will request that Felicity Briggs, Vice Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board will be seized with resolving any disputes that arise from the implementation of this agreement. It is this agreement that provides me with the jurisdiction to resolve the outstanding 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 filling those positions as they become available throughout various phases of the restructuring. Given the complexity and size of the task of restructuring and decommissioning of institutions, it is not surprising that a number of grievances and disputes arose. This is another of the disputes that have arisen under the MERC Memorandum of Settlement. When I was initially invited to hear theses transition disputes, the parties agreed that process to be followed for the determination of these matters would be virtually identical to that found in Article 22.16.2 which states: The mediator/arbitrator shall endeavour to assist the parties to settle the grievance by mediation. If the parties are unable to settle the grievance by mediation, the mediator/arbitrator shall determine the grievance by arbitration. When determining the grievance by arbitration, the mediator/arbitrator may limit the nature and extent of the evidence and may impose such conditions as he or she considers appropriate. The mediator/arbitrator shall give a succinct decision within five (5) days after completing proceedings, unless the parties agree otherwise. The transition committee has dealt with dozens of grievances and complaints prior to the mediation/arbitration process. There have been many other grievances 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 4 is because of the vast numbers of grievances that I have decided, in accordance with my jurisdiction to so determine, that grievances are to be presented by way of each party presenting a statement of the facts with accompanying submissions. Notwithstanding that some grievors might wish to attend and provide oral evidence, to date, this process has been efficient and has allowed the parties to remain relatively current with disputes that arise from the continuing transition process. Not surprisingly, in a few instances there has been some confusion about the certain facts or simply insufficient detail has been provided. On those occasions I have directed the parties to speak again with their principles to ascertain the facts or the rationale behind the particular outstanding matter. In each case this has been done to my satisfaction. It is essential in this process to avoid accumulating a backlog of disputes. The task of resolving these issues in a timely fashion was, from the outset, a formidable one. With ongoing changes in Ministerial boundaries and other organizational alterations, the task has lately become larger, not smaller. It is for these reasons that the process I have outlined is appropriate in these circumstances. Ryan Speller is an unclassified Correctional Officer at Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre. In a letter dated March 11, 2003, he was informed that his contract would be terminated in 6 weeks. He resigned his employment due to personal problems on March 17, 2003, giving two weeks notice. Mr. Speller was rehired on June 23, 2003. 5 Mr. Speller filed two grievances. The first alleged that the Employer violated the MERC agreement by taking more than a "reasonable" period of time to implement the agreement between the parties regarding the "roll-over" of unclassified employees to classified status. As stated in an earlier decision, I am of the view, at least in those instances prior to 2005, that given the number of employees to be rolled over and the amount of paper work involved in implementing these agreements, the period of time taken to actually assign the unclassified employees the status of classified employee was not unreasonable. For that reason, this grievance is dismissed. The second grievance alleged that Mr. Speller's full service was not taken into account when he was rolled over. It was the grievor's view that he should have all of his seniority returned given the short period of the break in his service. The Employer stated that the break in service must lead to a finding that his most recent date of hire is June 23, 2003. The Employer provided the grievor's personnel reports which confirm this date. I accept this evidence. There is no question that in the March 17, 2003 letter written by the grievor he gave "two weeks notice of [his] resignation as a correctional officer". Simply put, there is nothing in the Collective Agreement or any MERC agreement that would allow me to find for the grievor in this matter. The grievances are therefore denied. 6 Dated in Toronto this 28th day of March, 2007. I Felicity D. Brigg Vice-Char