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Home My WebLink About1988-1520.Union.89-07-24 ~ t "\ ONTARIO EMPLOYES DE LA COURONNE . CROWN EMPLOYEES DE L'ONTARIO .oJ " 1111 GRIEVANCE COMMISSION DE ~ SETTLEMENT REGLEMENT BOARD DES GRIEFS 180 DUNDAS STREET WEST TORONTO, ONTARIO. M5G 1Z8 SUITE 2100 TELEPHONE/TELEPHONE 180. RUE' DUNDAS OUEST TORONTO, (ONTARIO! M5G 1Z8 BUREAU 2100 (416) 598-0688 1520/88 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION Under THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT Before THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD , Between , OPSEU (Union Grievance) / Grievor i - and - The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Health) Employer Before: J J W Samuels Vice-Chairperson G. Nabi Member H. Roberts Member For the Grievor: o I Bloom Counsel Cavalluzzo, Hayes & Lennon Barristers & solicitors For the Employer: E Hipfner Staff Relations Officer Staff Relations Branch Management Board of Cabinet Hearinq: June 22, 1989 I I / l J ~ AWARD ------ 2 The Umon clauns that steam plant engmeers, who are In charge of a shIft m the power plant at the Brockvllle PsychIatnc HospItal, are entItled to the responsibility allowance provIded m ArtIcle 2(b)(I) of the collectiVe agreement govemmg the Mamtenance Sef\llCeS Category ThIS Article reads A Steam Plant Engmeer (2 or 3) m charge of all the shIft engIneers In a power plant who acts as the aSSIstant to a steam plant chIef who has responsibIlity for all InstItutIOnal maIntenance, shall be permItted to progress one rate beyond the maXImum for the estabhshed salary range In the salary schedule prepared by management, for some reason thIS allowance IS referred to m a note entItled "G_4", and therefore the partIes refer to thIS allowance as the "G_4 allowancell We WIll refer to It m the same way The steam plant at thIS HospItal IS a large one, havmg a total therm- hour ratmg of 729, whIch IS a Class F plant m the Mmlstry's classIficatIOn of plants Pursuant to the Operatzng Engzneers Act, the ChIef Engmeer must be a first class engmeer, and the ShIft Engmeer (who IS In charge of the plant dunng anyone ShIft) must be a second class engIneer If a ShIft Engmeer IS absent for a short penod, hIS pOSItIOn may be filled by a thIrd class engmeer The ChIef Engmeer at the HospItal IS Henry Albers He IS m management. There are four ShIft Engmeers, who are classIfied as Steam Plant Engmeer 3 (SPE 3) There are four ASSIstant ShIft Engmeers, who are second or thIrd class engIneers, and who are classIfied as Steam Plant Engmeer 2 (SPE 2) .- I I ~ -J 3 On any shIft, there IS one ShIft Engmeer and one AssIstant ShIft Engmeer These two men run the steam plant. The ShIft Engmeer bears full responsibIlIty for the operatIOn of the plant dunng that shIft. If the ShIft Engmeer IS absent, hIS ASSIstant will often fill III as ShIft Engmeer, and another engmeer WIll act as ASSIstant ShIft Engmeer The Umon claIms that the engmeer m charge of the power plant for the shIft IS entItled to the G-4 allowance for that shIft. ThIS would mean that the ShIft Engmeer, who is classIfied as an SPE 3, would always get the allowance, because whenever he IS at work he IS m charge of the power plant for the ShIft. The SPE 2, who IS normally an ASSIstant ShIft Engmeer, would get the allowance for those hours dunng whIch he acts as ShIft Engmeer The Umon reads ArtIcle 2(b )(1) as provldmg an allowance for the employee who IS III charge of the engmeers on the shIft. The MUllstry, on the other hand, argues that the allowance IS only for an employee who IS rim charge of all the shIft engmeers"-that IS, someone who has authonty over more than one ShIft Engmeer As well, the employee must "act as the aSSIstant to the steam plant chIef' The problem wIth the UnIon's argument IS that the Class Standard for the SPE 3 says that "ThIS class covers pOSItIOns of ShIft En gmeers m Class .F steam heatmg or power plants" (underlInIng m ongmal) In other words, the SPE 3's only Job IS to act as ShIft Engmeer Therefore, It makes lIttle sense to gIve the SPE 3 an addItIOnal responsibIlIty allowance when all he IS domg IS the work WhICh IS contemplated by hIS classIficatIon If the UnIon's argument were correct, then the partIes would have provIded an automatIc two-stage wage package for these SPE 3s-first there would be the wage schedule Itself, then there would automatIcally and always be the addItIOnal G-4 allowance. ,- / ^ l '1 _I -.. 4 In our VIew, thIS cannot be what the partIes did m ArtIcle 2(b)(I) A responsibIlIty allowance IS provIded for an employee who IS beanng more responsIbIlIty than IS called for ordmanly by hIS classificatIOn. In this case, It IS for an SPE 3 who IS domg more than sImply takmg charge of the operatIOn of the plant for the shift. And If the responsibIlIty allowance IS for someone who IS domg more than SImply takmg charge of the operatIon of the plant for the shIft, then It follows that the SPE 2 who acts as ShIft Engmeer IS also not entItled to the G-4 allowance. For these reasons, the gnevance IS dismIssed. Done at London, Dntano, thIS 24th day of July , 1989 ~el' Vi, ,,-~h..d'p~nnn /L.clL~ G N abI, Member \.\6\<~ H. Roberts, Member