HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-1272.Cronin.20-09-30 DecisionCrown Employees
Grievance Settlement
Board
Suite 600
180 Dundas St. West
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8
Tel. (416) 326-1388
Fax (416) 326-1396
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# 2019-1272
UNION# 2019-0234-0199
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
(Cronin) Union
- and -
The Crown in Right of Ontario
(Ministry of the Solicitor General) Employer
BEFORE
Gail Misra
Arbitrator
FOR THE UNION
Dan Sidsworth
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Grievance Officer
FOR THE EMPLOYER Michelle LaButte
Treasury Board Secretariat
Employee Relations Advisor
HEARING July 10 and September 28, 2020 (by
videoconference)
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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 (now, the Ministry of the Solicitor General) 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] Mark Cronin is a Correctional Officer (“CO”) at the Maplehurst Complex. He filed a
grievance on July 19, 2019 claiming that contrary to the terms of the current collective
agreement, the Employer had miscalculated his hours for the rollover of casuals in
December 2011, resulting in a discrepancy in his Continuous Service Date (“CSD”). By
way of remedy, the Grievor seeks to have his CSD recalculated in accordance with the
most current method of calculation in the collective agreement.
-3-
[8] The Grievor’s hours have been reviewed, and it is clear that his CSD is correct based on
the collective agreement that was in force at the time, in December 2011 when Mr.
Cronin was rolled over from his casual or fixed term status to that of a permanent
employee.
[9] To be clear, if the terms of a collective agreement change in regards to how the CSD is
to be calculated, that does not mean that each employee’s CSD must be recalculated
based on those changes, unless the parties specifically so agree. That is not what the
parties agreed to in the current collective agreement. Whatever the regime was at the
time that Mr. Cronin was rolled over, he got the benefit of those rules. Once he was
rolled over and his CSD at that juncture was determined, it is not subject to change in
light of later language that may apply to the calculation of a CSD for current Fixed Term
contract COs.
[10] Having considered the facts, and the submissions of the parties, and for the reasons
outlined above, this grievance is dismissed.
Dated at Toronto, Ontario this 30th day of September, 2020.
“Gail Misra”
_____________________
Gail Misra, Arbitrator