John Murray

The applicant union requested reconsideration of a majority decision dismissing its application for a declaration of a sale of a business under section 63 of the Labour Relations Act.

The union argued that the Board erred in its interpretation of a sale and failed to recognize that a third party acted as an intermediary to transfer the business free of bargaining rights.

The Board found that the third party acted at arm's length in purchasing the assets from the receiver and reselling them to the respondent.

As the request for reconsideration did not rely on new evidence or substantively different arguments, the request was dismissed.

The applicant union sought a declaration under section 63 of the Labour Relations Act that a sale of a business occurred between Universal Sections Limited and U S L Industries Inc. Universal had gone into receivership and its physical assets were sold by tender to Danbury Sales, which subsequently sold them to U S L Industries Inc. The Board found that Danbury purchased only a bundle of discrete assets and did not acquire the business as a going concern.

Consequently, there was no sale of a business from Universal to Danbury, and thus no sale to U S L Industries Inc. The application was dismissed, with one Board Member dissenting.