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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStewart 10-08-17 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION BETWEEN: COLLEGE COMPENSATION AND APPOINTMENTS COUNCIL FOR THE COLLEGES OF APPLIED ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY (Sault College) (hereinafter called the "College') AND: ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES' UNION (FOR ACADEMIC EMPLOYEES) (hereinafter called the "Union") RE: GRIEVANCE OF BRIAN STEWART WITH RESPECT TO SALARY PLACEMENT (Grievance No. 2007-0613-0004) O.B. SHIME, Q.C. SHERRIL MURRAY MARTHA YOUNG CHAIRPERSON UNION NOMINEE COLLEGE NOMINEE APPEARANCES: 1. LYNN THOMSON COUNSEL FOR THE COLLEGE AND OTHERS MUNEEZA SHEIKH COUNSEL FOR THE UNION AND OTHERS Hearings were held on this matter at Sault Ste. Marie on October 21,2008 and October 26 & 27,2009 - 2 - AWARD In this matter the Grievor claims that the College is in violation of the collective agreement by refusing to credit him with his airline transportation pilot license and his class one flight instructor rating, and requests that his position on the salary grid be corrected and that he receive compensation. The College maintains that the grievance was not timely and that 12.5 years have passed since the Grievor's initial salary placement. The College asserted that flight hours and aviation licenses are not credited for salary calculation or placement purposes under formal educational qualifications pursuant to the collective agreement. The Grievor is currently a Professor - Aviation Technology whose responsibilities include classroom instruction for safety and human factors, instruction for a private and commercial license, multi-engine instrument rating and aerobatic instructor rating, as well as related simulator training, In previous years he had been The Chief Flight Instructor responsible for the administration of the flight technology program and also the safety officer responsible for the administration of the College's aviation safety program. The Union filed a chart to demonstrate the Grievor's qualification and the requirements for obtaining those qualifications. That chart is as follows: - 3 - WORK STUDY CHART FOR DESIGNATIONS Hours of work Hours of study Examina tion Time it took to involved involved required acquire desif!nation Private Pilot 45 hours flight 40 hours Written 8 months License training examination (at least 60%) & 1987 Flight test Commercial 200 hours flight 80 hours Written 1 years & 8 Pilot License time completed examination (at months least 60%) & Flight test 1988 Flight 30 hours of dual 25 hours Written 7 months Instruction flight examination (at rating instruction least 70%) & 1989 (Aeroplane) completed Flight test Class 4 Multi Engine No minimum No minimum; Flight test 2 months Endorsement competency competency based based 1990 Instrument 90 Hours No minimum; Written 4 months Rating applicable flight competency examination (at time completed based least 70%) & 1990 Flight test Flight Instructor 100 hours of No minimum; N/A 11 months Rating Class 3 dual flight competency instruction based , 1990 completed Flight Instructor 500 hours of No minimum; Written 2 years & 5 Rating Class 2 flight competency examination (at months based least 70%) & Flight test 1992 Airline 1500 hours No minimum; 3 Written 5 years & I Transport Pilot flight time competency examinations month License completed based (at least 70%) & Flight test 1992 Flight Instructor 750 hours of No minimum; Written 1 year & 8 Rating flight competency examination (at months (Aeroplane) instruction based least 80%) & Class 1 completed Flight test 1994 Flight Instructor No minimum; 10 ho urs Flight Test 1 month Rating competency (Aerobatic) based 1995 - 4- The Grievor became a full-time Professor at the College in 1997 and was hired at Step 3. When he complained to the College about his placement in 1998, he was told that the various licenses and qualifications he acquired were not relevant to a formal education under the collective agreement. The Grievor also testified that approximately three years ago, the Joint Education Qualifications Subcommittee of the College approved of his entitlement to the maximum on the salary scale. When cross-examined, the Grievor acknowledged that the only programs that provide a pilot's license in Ontario are at three Community Colleges and not at a recognized university or college and not in an apprenticeship program. The Grievor's qualifications were obtained through Transport Canada and resulted from flight hours, in flight training hours, pre-flight testing and exams at each level. Transport Canada provided subject matter guidelines for the subjects upon which the Grievor was examined. There is no specific curriculum or course outline comparable to what the Grievor, as a Professor, provides to his students. The Grievor was required to provide documentation for several licenses, which included a personal log book recording time spent and experience, and a pilot training record consisting of ground school instruction, preparatory instruction, flight training and flight experience. Ground school instruction was given at a flight school by a person with Ministry of Transport qualifications. Flight training consists of hours in a plane with an instructor or flying solo. - 5 - The Grievor testified that when he was not supervised in a plane he received a pre- flight briefing for about ten (l0) minutes with respect to the exercises to be practiced and then was debriefed after the flight by the instructor for ten (l0) to fifteen (15) minutes. The Grievor obtained his initial private pilot license over eight months on a part time basis as he had a full time job. The obtaining of that license required 45 hours of flight training and 40 hours of studying. While the requirements for a commercial pilot license are 200 hours of flight time, those hours included the 45 hours of flight time that the Grievor had obtained in qualifying for his private pilots license. Of the 155 hours that remained, 95 were solo hours and 60 hours were dual hours with an instructor. The Grievor acknowledged that while the current hours of study are recorded on the filed chmt as 80 hours, it only required 40 hours when he took the test. He also acknowledged that it took him one year and eight months because he had a full time job and also had a farm that he operated with his father. To become a flight instructor class 4 required 30 hours of dual instruction and 25 study hours. The Grievor testified he spent 50 hours of class time with an instructor. He also wrote a Ministry of Transportation test and passed a flight test. Also pilot training records were submitted. Certain of those records were signed or certified by an instructor. It took the Grievor seven months to acquire the license because he was working part time on his farm. - 6 - For his multi engine endorsement the Grievor spent 10 hours on a plane with an instructor and took a flight test. There was no minimum competency required by the Ministry and it took the Grievor two months to acquire that recognition. In order to obtain his instrument rotary qualification there were no minimum study hours required. Ninety hours of applicable flight time was required which included forty hours of instrument rating and fifty hours of solo flying cross country some of which was completed in obtaining his commercial license. The Grievor at the time was working as a flight instructor and complemented that time by working on his licenses, For his Flight Instructor Rating Class 3, the Grievor was required to teach students for 100 hours; to be successful required three (3) students to successfully pass a flight test. For a Flight Instructor Rating Class 2. the Grievor was required to provide 500 hours of flight instruction and recommend ten students for flight tests, which could include the three students that were trained while a Class 3 Flight Instructor. The Grievor also was required to pass an instructor flight test. For a Class 1 Flight Instructor Rating, the Grievor was required to have 750 hours of flight instruction which included all of the prior instnlction time and to have recommended no fewer than ten applicants for flight tests. There were additional components for qualifying such as studying a syllabus in order to know what to teach and passing a flight test. - 7 ~ During the period when he was acquiring his Flight Instructors Rating, the Grievor was employed as an instructor for different commercial flight schools. He also obtained a Class I Flight Instructor Rating - aerobatic for which he was tested by the Ministry of Transport. He included this course as part of the program for Sault College. Ms. Gina Drinkwater was responsible for the Grievor's initial placement. After considering the Grievor's occupational experience and education and after providing him with an economic adjustment, the Grievor was assigned to Step 3 but paid at Step 4. The Grievor was subsequently paid as a Professor. When cross examined Ms. Drinkwater stated that only relevant training is credited and the hiring supervisor had a wide discretion for placement. When re-examined she claimed the exercise of discretion was guided by the recruitment climate at the time. Colin Kirkwood, the Dean for Natural Environment, Technology and Skilled Trades, which includes the aviation program as well as the trades and apprenticeship programs, testified that apprenticeship training involves job training and in school training. The in school training at Community Colleges consists of three eight week sessions or two sessions of different length which comprises ten per cent (10%) of the overall training. There are exams, tests, reports and labs which are assessed, graded and then reported to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Apprentices are assigned to individual employers and given a training log to be verified by a certified journey person. Apprentices do not work on their own but work under the direction of a journey person. A rough average for the program is 5000 hours for electricians, plumbers, and mill wrights. - 8 - There is legislation covering their training and qualifications. When cross examined Dean Kirkwood stated that journeymen sign offon a person's competency. The Union maintained that the Grievor's qualifications were consistent with a formal integrated work study program within the meaning of Article 14 and the detailed Job Classification Plans and that a joint review committee had determined that someone with the Grievor's qualifications could obtain the maximum step on the salary scale. The Union claimed that the Grievor's qualifications and programs were equivalent to an apprenticeship program at that the Grievor should be credited with 1.5 points per year under the Professor Classification and be credited for completing the program and compensated retroactively to the date of the grievance. The College argues that a pilot's license does not qualify as a formal qualification within the meaning of the collective agreement. The College maintains that years of study and experience should not be double counted and that the Grievor was credited for his flight time experience while an employee of various flight schools, which enabled him to acquire his licenses and qualifications. The College maintains that some of the flying time was cumulative and was not equivalent to the hours required in apprenticeship training, nor was the time monitored in the same way. Also, there is no fixed period to acquire the qualifications cited by the Grievor and that time could have been considerably compressed if a person devoted himself /herself full time to acquiring the license. The College further submits that the Grievor's licensing program was not equivalent to the program requirements under the collective agreement, nor does the Grivor's program qualify as an - 9- apprenticeship program. The College argues that the Joint Educational Committee is not mandated to deal with issues of initial placcment. Finally the College claims that the calculations made for the Grievor's initial placement represented a generous evaluation of his past experience and was properly made. After duly considering the evidence and arguments it is our view that the initial placement was not flawed. The Grievor cannot count the time it took him to complete the course for credit purposes. He was working part time and involved with the operation of his and his father's farm which stretched out the time that it took to acquire his various qualifications. The time to be calculated under the collective agreement is the time of the course and the time actually taken cannot be utilized for calculating his placement. Also the Grievor's flying hours when he instructed others was credited as experience and to view that time as an educational qualification would be double counting contrary to the collective agreement. Further, after considering the collective agreement that existed at the time, coupled with the recruitment discretion that was exercised in his favour, it is our view that the Grievor's initial placement was not unreasonable. The grievance is dismissed. - 10- DA TED AT TORONTO this 1 ill day of August, 2010 --2- ", . )\ C].uktt I~ \ ut~ Owen B. Shime, Q.C. "1 dissent" "Sherl"a Murrav " Sherril Murray "Martha Young" Martha Young