Gordon Donnelly

The union filed a complaint alleging that the employer retirement home threatened and implemented an unlawful lockout by deciding to subcontract all bargaining unit work due to severe financial difficulties.

The employer had experienced escalating operating losses and determined that subcontracting was necessary to reduce labour costs.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board dismissed the complaint, finding that the employer's decision was a final and irrevocable economic choice rather than a tactic to compel employee concessions or preserve the employment relationship on different terms.

Consequently, the conduct did not meet the statutory definition of a lockout.