HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-3813.Bourgeois.19-04-25 DecisionCrown Employees
Grievance Settlement
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Commission de
règlement des griefs
des employés de la
Couronne
Bureau 600
180, rue Dundas Ouest
Toronto (Ontario) M5G 1Z8
Tél. : (416) 326-1388
Téléc. : (416) 326-1396
GSB# 2017-3813
UNION# 2018-0642-0005
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
(Bourgeois) Union
- and -
The Crown in Right of Ontario
(Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services) Employer
BEFORE
Gail Misra
Arbitrator
FOR THE UNION
Dan Sidsworth
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Grievance Officer
FOR THE EMPLOYER Al. J. Quinn
Ministry of Community Safety and
Correctional Services
Senior Employee Transition Advisor
HEARINGS January 18, 2019 and April 18, 2019
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DECISION
[1] Since the spring of 2000 the parties have been meeting regularly to address matters
of mutual interest which have arisen as the result of the Ministry of Community
Safety and Correctional Services as well as the Ministry of Children and Youth
Services restructuring initiatives around the Province. Through the MERC (Ministry
Employment Relations Committee) a subcommittee was established to deal with
issues arising from the transition process. The parties have negotiated a series of
MERC agreements setting out the process for how organizational changes will
unfold for Correctional and Youth Services staff and for non-Correctional and non-
Youth Services staff.
[2] The parties agreed that this Board would remain seized of all issues that arise
through this process and it is this agreement that provides me the jurisdiction to
resolve the outstanding matters.
[3] Over the years as some institutions and/or youth centres decommissioned or
reduced in size others were built or expanded. The parties have made efforts to
identify vacancies and positions and the procedures for the filling of those positions
as they become available.
[4] The parties have also negotiated a number of agreements that provide for the “roll-
over” of fixed term staff to regular (classified) employee status.
[5] Hundreds of grievances have been filed as the result of the many changes that have
taken place at provincial institutions. The transition subcommittee has, with the
assistance of this Board, mediated numerous disputes. Others have come before
this Board for disposition.
[6] It was determined by this Board at the outset that the process for these disputes
would be somewhat more expedient. To that end, grievances are presented by way
of statements of fact and succinct submissions. On occasion, clarification has been
sought from grievors and institutional managers at the request of the Board. This
process has served the parties well. The decisions are without prejudice but attempt
to provide guidance for future disputes.
[7] Michael Bourgeois is a Correctional Officer at the Monteith Correctional Complex.
He filed a grievance dated January 26, 2018 claiming that the Employer had
improperly calculated his vacation credits because it failed to do so from March 9,
2009. The grievor also asserts that his Continuous Service Date (“CSD”) should be
March 9, 2009.
[8] In a previous decision between these same parties, and with respect to this same
grievor, OPSEU (Bourgeois) v. MCSCS, GSB#2017-0503, November 6, 2017
(Briggs), the Board had outlined why Mr. Bourgeois’ CSD should be October 6, 2014,
and not the March 2009 date he sought. The decision noted as follows:
-3-
7. Mr. Michael Bourgeois was a driver/storekeeper at the Monteith Jail from March
of 2009 until October 2014. He then successfully took the necessary training at
Bell Cairn and became a Correctional Officer. He resigned his position of
driver/storekeeper as of October 3, 2014 and began working as a fixed term CO.
8. In March of 2017 he was rolled over into a regular full time CO position and his
CSD was calculated to be October 6, 2014. Mr. Bourgeois challenged this
calculation taking the position that his employment as a driver/storekeeper should
have been taken into account.
…
10. The grievor resigned his employment on October 3, 2014 and therefore the
grievance is denied.
[9] The grievor has filed this current grievance essentially seeking to re-argue the same
issue that has already been decided. The facts have not changed: He resigned
from his employment on October 3, 2014 to take a job as a fixed term Corrections
Officer. Pursuant to Article 18.4 of the collective agreement, continuous service is
deemed to have been broken, or terminated, when an employee resigns. As such,
the grievor had a break in his service, and there is no basis whatsoever for his
service to go back to March 9, 2009, for any purpose, whether for his CSD or for
vacation entitlement.
[10] For the reasons outlined above, this grievance is denied.
Dated at Toronto, Ontario this 25th day of April, 2019.
“Gail Misra”
______________________
Gail Misra, Arbitrator