J. Ronson

The Board received a letter from an individual taking issue with various actions of the applicant union and requesting more notice of its actions.

The Board noted that the trusteeship of the local would expire on December 31, 2000, as the union had not requested an extension.

The Board found that the union's steps to end the trusteeship were appropriate and declined to review the matter further at this time.

The applicant, The Corporation of the City of Kitchener, sought to withdraw its application against the responding parties, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 791 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 636.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board granted leave for the application to be withdrawn.

The responding party brought a non-suit motion.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board directed the responding party to elect whether or not it will call evidence before the Board proceeds to consider the non-suit motion.

The responding party was given 10 days to advise the Board and the applicant of its decision.

The employer filed an unfair labour practice complaint alleging the union breached its duty to bargain in good faith by taking a demand for multi-unit/multi-province bargaining to impasse, and that the union failed to comply with statutory strike vote requirements by pooling ballots across multiple bargaining units.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board held that pursuing multi-unit bargaining to impasse is inconsistent with the scheme of the Act and constitutes a breach of section 17.

The Board further held that pooling strike vote ballots from different bargaining units violates section 79, rendering the resulting strike unlawful.

The union applied for certification and filed an unfair labour practice complaint alleging the employer discharged three employees for union activity.

The Board determined the appropriate bargaining unit should be restricted to the employer's non-construction winter operations.

The Board found the employer failed to prove the discharges were not tainted by anti-union animus, violating sections 64 and 66 of the Labour Relations Act.

Given the employer's violations, including threatening an employee prior to a pre-hearing vote, the Board concluded the true wishes of employees were unlikely to be ascertained.

Finding the union had adequate membership support, the Board certified the union pursuant to section 8 of the Act and ordered reinstatement with compensation for the discharged employees.