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Dubois et al 10-05-04
INTHEMATTEROFANARBITRATION BETWEEN CENTREFORADDICTIONANDMENTALHEALTH (CAMH) And ONTARIOPUBLICSERVICEEMPLOYEESUNION (OPSEU) RegardingtheGrievanceofVisionCareBenefits Arbitrator:Ban3,B.Fisher CounselforCAMH:DarynJeffries CounselforOPSEU:TimMulhall HearingheldinTorontoonJanuary28,2010 AWARD Thesoleissueinthiscaseiswhetherthecostofeyeexamsareincludedinthe$300.00Vision CarecoverageprovidedforinthecurrentCollectiveAgreement. Thefollowingaretheagreedstatementoffacts. AgreedStatementofFacts l, OPSEUrepresents1,600employeesatCAMH. . Aneyeexamcostsapproximately$85.00. . OPSEUandCAMHwerepartytoacollectiveagreementwhichexpiredonApril 1,2005.Ithadnoprovisionregardingvisioncare.However,employeeswere entitledto$225.00every24months. , ThepartiesenteredintobargainingforanewcollectiveagreementinoraboutApril2008.TheUnionproposedanincreaseintheabovevisioncareallowanceat tilecommencementofbargalningasseenintheattacheddocumentdatedApril 9,,2008.Itprovidedforanincreaseofthe$225.00figureto$300.00anda requestthatCAMH"paythecostofoneeyeexamperyear. 5 Thepartiesbargainedthisnewcollectiveagreementforseveraldaysandreacheda MemorandumofAgreement(attached)foranewcollectiveagreementonJune 20,2008. 6 AsofthebeginningofthelastdayofbargainingOPSEUwasstillproposing $300,00and"addtheemployertopaythecostofoneeyeexamperyear"(see attachedproposal-UnionProposalJune20,2008). 1 ThelartiesendeduponagreeingtothelanguagefoundintheattachedMOA:"increaseto$300.00;eyeexameveryyear".DespitetheMOA,thenew collectiveagreementcontinuestohavenolanguageregardingvisioncare. .OPSEUandsomeofitsmembersfiledgrievancesinNovember2008when CAMHrefusedtopayforaneyeexamaboveandbeyondthe$300.00allotment. Inaddition,thepartiessuppliedmewiththefollowingadditionalinformationafterthe hearing: 1.EyeexamsweredelistedfromOHIPonNovember1,2004. . TheCollectiveAgreementimmediatelypriortotilecurrentoneranfromApril1,2005to IVlarch3I,2008.ItwassignedonJuly28,2006. 3TheadministratorsofvisioncareaUowancedurirlgthepriorCollectiveAgreement indicatedthatthevisioncareallowancewouldhavecoveredanynumberofeyeexams performedbyanoptometaqstorophthalmologistaslongasthetotalexpenditureforallvision carebenefitswaswithinthemaximumclaim0f$225.00every24months. Anal Wethushaveasituationinwhich,underthepriorcollectiveagreement,eyeexamsweredelistedand therewasnorestrictiononthenumberofeyeexamsonecouldhaveastongasthetotalbenefitsexpenditure waswithinthemaximumbenefitof$225.00evel224months. 'e Inlightofthatpre-existingstuaton,thpartiesthenrenegotiatedanewprovisionwhichreads"VisionCare--Increaseto$300.00;eyeexameveryyear". TheUnions'positionisthatthisresultedintwoimprovementstothevisioncarecoverage: 1.Thecapof$225.00inareasedto$300.00. .Overandabovethis$300.00cap,thememberswerealsoentitledtoaneyeexamevery year. CAMH'spositionisthatthislanguageonlyresultedinoneimprovement,namely,thecapwentfrom$225.00to$300.00,andwithinthatbudgetthememberscouldhaveoneeyeexamperyear. TheUnions'positionisbasedontheprinciplethatalltilewordsintheagreementmusthaveameaning.Sincetherewasnopriorlimitationonthenumberofeyeexamsthatamembercouldhave(aslong asthecosttothetotalvisioncarebenefitswasnomorethan$225.00every24months)itmakesnosense tosaythattheadditionofthewords"Eyeexameveryyear"meansanythingotherthenitisoverand abovetilenew$300.00limit,fortodootherwisewouldrendertheirwordsmeaninglessand superfluous. CAMH'spositionatthehearingwasthatunderthepreviouscollectiveagreementtileprovisiononly coveredoneeyeexaminationper24monthperiod.Thisargmnentflowedfromthefactthatthebenefit bookletcontainedthefollowinglanguage: "EyeExaminaton Eye'examinationbyanoptometristorophthalmologist" :''intendedtoAsthe term"eyeexamination"isinthesingular,thesubmissionwasthatIswasonlycover oneeyeexamevery24monthsandwithintheoverallcapof$225.00every24mouths. Underthislogic,thenewcollectiveagreementwouldallowthememberstohavetwoexaminations withinthesame24monthperiod,thusanimprovementoverthepriorcollectiveagreement. Howeverthatassumptionprovedtobeincorrectasunderthepreviouscollectiveagreement,therewasinfactnolimitationofthenumberofeyeexamsanemployeecouldhave,onlyamonetary limit. 'e CAMHalsorehesonthgeneralinterpretiveprinciple,thattoprovideaneconomicbenefit,clearlanguage shouldbeused.InthiseaseCAMHarguesthelanguageusedwasnotclearenoughtoawardanextra benefitof$85.00ayearto1,600members,foratotalof$136,000.00.Thisisofcourseontopofthe annualcostoftheothervisioncarebenefit($t50.00ayearor$300.00every24monthsx1,600 membersequals$240,000.00ayear) 4 Inthisawardwehavetwocompetingprinciplesatplay: t.AllwordsinaColleetiveAgreementmustbegivenameaning,unlesstodosoisabsurd. 2.CollectiveAgreementlanguageawardingmonetarybenefitsmustbeinclearlanguage. Firstofalt,inlightoftheinformationfromthebenefitadministratorthatthepreviousplanhad norestrictiononthenumberofeyeexams,therewouldbenopurposeatallinaddingthelanguage"eye exameveryyear"unlessitwouldbetolimitthenumberofeyeexamswithinthe$300.00cap.Asthe negotiatinghistoryrevealsthattheprovisionfor"eyeexamseveryyear"wasaUl'sionproposal,itisnot likelythatOPSEUwouldhaveproposedsucharestriction.ItisfarmorelikelythatOPSEU,orany m'tion,wouldmakeproposals'toexpandtheirmembersbenefits,notrestrictlhem. ThereforeunlesstheprovisionisgiventhemeaningproposedbyOPSEU,thewords"eyeexam everyyear"becomemeaningless. Ialsofindthatthelanguageisclearenoughtoprovideamonetarybenefit.Thecostofaneye examisapparentlyquitestraightforward,ascanbeseenthatthepartiesagreedinthiscasethatitis approximately$85.00perexam.ThereforewhentheCAMHnegotiatingteamwascostingtheUnion's proposal,theycouldhaveeasilycalculatedthecostofthisproposal. Moreover,atthearbitrationIwasprovidedwithtwointeractauthoritiesonthecorrect grammariealuseofasemi-colon(GPRC-SemicolonandColonUsageandTheWritingCentre, UniversityofOttawa).Bothoftheseauthoritiesagreethatasemi-colonisusedtolinkindependent clausesnotjoinedbyaco-ordinatingconjunction.Anotherwayofsayingthisisthatforthemostpart, youshoulduseaseml-eolon:onlywhenyoucouldalsouseaperiod.Applyingthesegrammarprinciples tothelanguageinquestion,wecouldalsoreadtheIemorandnmofUnderstandingasfollows: "VisionCare-Increaseto$300.00.Eyeexameveryyear." 1"thereforefindinfavouroftheUnion'sinterpretationthatamemberisentitledtoaneyeexam everyyearinadditiontothe$300.00coverageforothervisioneareproductsorself'icesevery24months. Iremainseizedofanyissuesregardingtheimplementationorinterpretationofthisaward. DatedatTorontothis4a)dayofMay,2010