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Home My WebLink About2002-1227.Balazs.04-03-04 Decision Crown Employees Commission de ~~ Grievance Settlement reglement des griefs Board des employes de la Couronne ~-,... Suite 600 Bureau 600 Ontario 180 Dundas Sl. West 180 rue Dundas Ouest Toronto Ontario M5G 1Z8 Toronto (Ontario) M5G 1Z8 Tel. (416) 326-1388 Tel. (416) 326-1388 Fax (416) 326-1396 Telec. (416) 326-1396 GSB# 2002-1227 UNION# 02C939 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION Under THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT Before THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD BETWEEN Ontano PublIc ServIce Employees Umon (Balazs) Grievor - and - The Crown In RIght of Ontano (Mimstry ofCommumty Safety and CorrectIOnal ServIces) Employer BEFORE FelIcIty D Bnggs Vice-Chair FOR THE UNION Stephen GIles Gnevance Officer Ontano PublIc ServIce Employees Umon FOR THE EMPLOYER Greg GledhIll Staff RelatIOns Officer Mimstry of Commumty Safety and CorrectIOnal ServIces HEARING October 30 2003 2 DeCISIon From March 13th to May 6th 2002, the Umon and Its members were engaged In a legal stnke Pnor to the begInmng of thIS actIOn the partIes had negotIated a Memorandum of Agreement regardIng the condItIOns of work In the event of a stnke or a lockout (hereInafter referred to as the "CondItIOns Document") In that agreement It was provIded that "all collectIve agreement provIsIOns apply to essentIal and emergency workers wIthout InterruptIOn, save only that AppendIx 9 and AppendIx 18 shall not apply" The CondItIOns Document also expressly provIded the Umon contInued nght under ArtIcle 22 13 of the CollectIve Agreement to file Umon gnevances on behalf of employees who were performIng essentIal and emergency servIces Dunng the course of the stnke approxImately 5000 gnevances were filed by Umon members across the Ontano PublIc ServIce As part of the negotiatIOns that ended the work stoppage, the partIes negotIated a Return to Work Protocol That agreement contemplated vanous provIsIOns IncludIng how contInUOUS servIce, pensIOn, credIts and semonty would be affected as a result of the stnke AddItIOnally the partIes addressed other Issues such as repnsal, dIscIplIne and the mechamcs of the actual return of the bargaInIng umt members to the workplace It was further agreed these "stnke related" gnevances would be treated separately and lItIgated In an efficIent manner To that end, on June 27 2002, OPSEU and the Mimstry of PublIc Safety and Secunty (hereInafter referred to as "MPSS") met to dISCUSS a process In order to resolve the outstandIng stnke related gnevances FolloWIng that meetIng a letter dated October 11 2002, confirmed the agreement that: In order to deal wIth the stnke related gnevances In a proactIve, expedItIOus and effectIve manner the partIes have agreed to the folloWIng . No stage 2 heanngs . No filIng of stnke related gnevances at GSB untIl agreed otherwIse . WaiVIng of tIme lImIts . RespectIvely assIgmng dedIcated resources to deal wIth the volume ApproxImately 4500 gnevances were filed by members employed by the MPSS The partIes agreed to a DIspute ResolutIOn Protocol for MPSS that Included Terms of Reference It IS not necessary to provIde all of that agreement. It IS sufficIent to say that the partIes agreed to an 3 expedIted process whereIn each party provIdes to the Vice Chair wntten submIssIOns whIch Include the facts, provIsIOns of the CollectIve Agreement, the EssentIal ServIces Agreement, legIslatIOn or any other document alleged to have been vIOlated, arguments and requested remedy Oral eVIdence would not be called although It was allowed that I could request further clanficatIOn If necessary Other procedural Issues were addressed to ensure that gnevances would be dealt wIth In a tImely fashIOn. The Terms of Reference also provIded that I would remaIn seIzed of all outstandIng stnke related gnevances filed by members workIng In MPSS The maJonty of the 4500 gnevances dealt wIth one of the folloWIng Issues . An allegatIOn of delayed retroactIve payments WIth a request for Interest OWIng; . An allegatIOn of faIlure to pay appropnate holIday pay for Good Fnday and Easter Monday . EntItlement to call back; . On-Call and Standby Issues for emergency workers Those matters were separately lItIgated at the Gnevance Settlement Board and decIsIOns eIther have been Issued or are pendIng. In accordance wIth the agreement of the partIes a number of heanng days were scheduled to hear and determIne the outstandIng stnke related gnevances Many of the gnevances have been resolved through medIatIOn. ThIS IS a further decIsIOn dealIng wIth those matters Tom Balazs IS a CorrectIOnal Officer workIng at Metro West DetentIOn Centre After the conclusIOn of the stnke he filed a gnevance regardIng the balancIng of hours There were many other gnevances from vanous InstItutIOns filed regardIng thIS matter FolloWIng the stnke In 1996 the partIes contemplated thIS Issue The partIes agreed at that tIme that the Employer would be reqUIred to balance employee hours However no such agreement was Included In the 2002 Return to Work Protocol Most CorrectIOnal Officers work a compressed work week. The number of weeks In compressed work week schedules can vary greatly ThIS IS true not only from one InstItutIOn to another but also wIthIn one facIlIty For example, a rotatIOn for some compressed work week schedules IS ten weeks In length. The hours to be worked are averaged over that penod. That IS to say that a CorrectIOnal Officer mIght work more hours In the first pay penod of the rotatIOn than In the 4 second but the compensatIOn he receIves would rem am constant. Over the course of the entIre rotatIOn each CorrectIOnal Officer works and IS compensated for the appropnate hours of work as set out m the CollectIve Agreement. In the stnke of 2002 the actual work stoppage began on a Wednesday thereby mterruptmg the normal schedule of work m the mIddle of a week. There were several decIsIOns dunng the course of the stnke Issued statmg that normal schedulIng of hours dId not apply When CorrectIOnal Officers returned to work on a Monday m May they dId not return to the same place on theIr compressed work week schedule that they left. As a result, some CorrectIOnal Officers were m a posItIOn ofhavmg worked extra hours and some Officers were m a deficIt hour posItIOn. The partIes entered mto a settlement regardmg thIS matter on January 29 2003 that stated The partIes agree to a full and final settlement of the gnevance(s) lIsted m AppendIx A wIthout precedent and wIthout preJudIce to any future and/or sImIlar matter(s) on the followmg terms The partIes agree to partIally resolve all other stnke-related gnevance(s) regardmg balancmg of hours, as IdentIfied m accordance wIth paragraph 4 below on the followmg terms 1 Where the local Umon wIshes that hours from the stnke be balanced, the Employer wIll meet as soon as possIble wIth the local Umon ERC 2 In such cases where the local Umon ERC wIshes that hours from the stnke be balanced the provIsIOns of ArtIcle 10 from the January 1 1999-December 31 2001 CollectIve Agreement and the local C W W agreement shall apply 3 The partIes agree that any stnke related gnevances regardmg averagmg of hours, mcludmg mdIvIdual, group and local polIcy gnevances, that cannot be resolved m accordance wIth thIS agreement, shall be referred back to Ms DIane Cotton, MPSS and Mr Tim Mulhall, OPSEU or theIr respectIve desIgnees, wIthm 45 calendar days after the sIgmng of thIS Memorandum Should the gnevances rem am m dIspute, the gnevances wIll be consolIdated, and a final determmatIOn by a Vice-Chair of the Gnevance Settlement Board shall be made 4 The partIes agree that the gnevances lIsted on AppendIx A attached are resolved by thIS Memorandum of Settlement. The partIes agree to make best efforts to finalIze AppendIx A wIthm 45 days of the sIgmng of thIS agreement. In accordance wIth paragraph 3 above the matter IS before me for determmatIOn. A handful of mstItutIOns remItted the matter back to the partIes, mcludmg Thunder Bay CorrectIOnal Centre, Metro West DetentIOn Centre Sudbury JaIl and Bluewater Youth Centre However when questIOned, the partIes were unable to tell me whether the matter of balancmg of hours had ever been dIscussed at these mstItutIOns at the local ERC level as set out m the above Memorandum 5 of Agreement. Accordmgly I order the local Umon and appropnate management mstItutIOn officIal to hold an ERC meetmg to dISCUSS thIS Issue wIthm SIXty days of the release of thIS decIsIOn. The gnevance at hand IS encompassed by the Memorandum of Settlement set out above In accordance wIth that agreement, the ERC decIsIOn from each mstItutIOn shall apply to all employees wIthm that facIlIty Dated llljoronto tlus ~ili day of March, 2004 - · r'" ;; Vice Chair