Duty of fair representation complaint dismissed; union reasonably corrected seniority dates to comply with constitution.
The applicants, transport workers in the film industry, joined the responding trade union during an organizing drive.
Union organizers mistakenly told the applicants that their seniority dates would be the dates they signed proof of membership cards, rather than their initiation dates as required by the union's constitution.
When the union discovered the error, it adjusted the applicants' seniority dates to comply with the constitution, causing them to drop significantly on the seniority list.
The applicants filed complaints alleging violations of sections 74 and 75 of the Labour Relations Act.
The Board dismissed the applications, finding that the union's actions were a reasonable correction of an honest mistake and did not constitute arbitrary, discriminatory, or bad faith conduct.
Dan Perry, Carl Severin, and Evan Siegel v. International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada Local 873, 2001 CanLII 13367