R. O. MacDowell

M. J. Fenwick

C. G. Bourne

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardSep 1, 1980

Provincial labour legislation applies to a non-profit organization serving Metis and non-status Indians.

The applicant union sought certification for employees of the respondent, a non-profit social service organization for Metis and non-status Indians.

The respondent argued that its operations fell under federal jurisdiction pursuant to section 91(24) of the British North America Act because its members and beneficiaries were 'Indians' and its activities were of a federal character.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board held that the respondent's operations did not constitute a federal undertaking or business, as they lacked a sufficient connection to Indian lands, the administration of reserves, or the exercise of rights under the Indian Act.

The Board concluded that provincial labour relations legislation applied and granted the certificate.

Ontario Public Service Employees Union v. Ontario Metis and NonStatus Indian Association, 1980 CanLII 2989

Stan Henderson

5 cases1980–1984

M. Kimber

J. Wilson

22 cases1980–2024

Harold F. Caley

51 cases1980–2003

Gordon Wood

6 cases1980–2014

D. N. Corbett

7 cases1980–1994

D. F. Hirsh

R. O. MacDowell

O. Hodges

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardAug 8, 1980

E. J. Brady

OLRB0 cases1980–1984

Union bargaining rights preserved after finding a sale of part of a meat packing business.

The applicant union alleged that a 'sale of a business' occurred under section 55 of the Labour Relations Act when the respondent, Beef Terminal (1979) Limited, leased the premises and equipment of the predecessor, Beef Terminal.

The predecessor operated a comprehensive meat packing business, while the respondent operated a custom slaughterhouse using the same facilities and many of the same employees.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board found that the respondent acquired a coherent and severable part of the predecessor's business.

The Board concluded there was no substantial change in the character of the business to justify terminating bargaining rights under section 55(5).

The union's bargaining rights were preserved, but a related employer application under section 1(4) was dismissed.

One Board Member dissented, arguing the business character had substantially changed.

Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America v. Beef Terminal (1979) Limited, 1980 CanLII 763

Lynne Watts

Janice A. Baker

6 cases1980–1993

R. O. MacDowell

J. A. Ronson

D. B. Archer

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardJul 28, 1980

Board determines bargaining unit status of various community college administrative and clerical staff.

The union referred a question to the Ontario Labour Relations Board under section 82 of the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act to determine whether several individuals were employees included in the support staff bargaining unit.

The Board examined the duties and responsibilities of the individuals to determine if they were employed in a managerial or confidential capacity.

The Board found that the executive secretary to the Director of Plant and Services was excluded due to her confidential capacity.

The office manager and a general clerk in the Personnel department were found not to exercise sufficient managerial or confidential duties and were included in the unit.

The Divisional Directors and Assistant Divisional Directors of Continuing Education were found to exercise significant managerial functions over the continuing education program and part-time staff, and were excluded from the bargaining unit.

Ontario Public Service Employees Union v. St. Clair College of Applied Arts & Technology, 1980 CanLII 853

Michael F. Smith

11 cases1980–2020

Charles Campbell

10 cases1980–2015

R. O. MacDowell

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardJul 25, 1980

Duty of fair representation complaint dismissed; union's refusal to arbitrate discharge grievance was not arbitrary.

The complainant, who was discharged for failing to return to work on time after an extended vacation, alleged that his union breached its duty of fair representation under section 60 of the Labour Relations Act by refusing to take his discharge grievance to arbitration.

The union's grievance committee and executive board had reviewed the case and concluded it lacked merit due to credibility issues and the strict language of the collective agreement.

The Board dismissed the complaint, finding that the union had carefully considered the grievance and that its decision was not arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.

An alleged innocent misrepresentation by a shop steward that caused the complainant to miss a union meeting did not constitute a breach of the Act.

Kesar Singh Riyait v. Local 1590, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 1980 CanLII 964

S. Wahl

9 cases1980–2000

Marc Lefebvre

R. O. MacDowell

C. G. Bourne

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardJul 16, 1980

C. A. Ballentine

OLRB0 cases1980–1992

Board declares insolvent unionized company and newly formed non-unionized company to be one employer.

The applicant union sought a declaration under sections 55 and 1(4) of the Labour Relations Act that Brant Erecting and Hoisting and Provincial Steel were a single employer or that a sale of business had occurred.

The key principal of the unionized Brant Erecting, which had become insolvent, established a new non-unionized company, Provincial Steel, through his wife to carry on the same business.

The Board found that the two entities carried on associated or related businesses under common control and direction, despite not operating simultaneously.

The Board granted the section 1(4) declaration, binding Provincial Steel to the collective agreement, and found it unnecessary to decide the section 55 issue.

The Ironworkers' District Council of Ontario v. William A. Squire, 1980 CanLII 768

Stephen Krashinsky

In Private Practice17 cases1980–1998

Charles F. Clark

4 cases1980–1982

R. O. MacDowell

J. A. Ronson

B. Armstrong

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardJul 7, 1980

Application for reconsideration dismissed where respondent failed to attend hearing and misrepresented reasons for absence.

The respondent applied for reconsideration of a Board decision that denied an adjournment and found it had illegally terminated four employees.

The respondent argued the adjournment should have been granted due to a death in the owner's family, and that the owner failed to attend the hearing due to a misunderstanding of his solicitor's advice.

The Board found the owner had continued to work despite the bereavement and had intentionally misrepresented facts.

The Board also found the owner had ignored his solicitor's advice to attend the hearing.

The application for reconsideration was dismissed.

Teamster, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers, Local Union No. 880 v. Russell MacVicar Limited, 1980 CanLII 841

R. O. MacDowell

J. A. Ronson

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardJul 7, 1980

B. L. Armstrong

OLRB0 cases1980–1997

Certification application dismissed because the employee association was not a trade union due to managerial involvement.

The applicant employee association applied for certification as the exclusive bargaining agent for the respondent's employees.

The Board found that managerial personnel had been actively involved in the organization from its inception, were current members, and that the employer had lent support to the preparation and solicitation of membership evidence.

Consequently, the Board held that the applicant was not a trade union within the meaning of the Labour Relations Act and dismissed the application.

Tilco Plastics Employee's Association v. Tilco Plastics (1976) Limited, 1980 CanLII 869

F. Bickford

2 cases1980–1982

Donald F. Hersey

3 cases1980–1980

R. O. MacDowell

J. D. Bell

OLRB0 cases1980–1985

D. B. Archer

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardJun 16, 1980

Minister has authority to appoint an arbitrator for a grievance arising during the statutory freeze period.

The Minister of Labour referred a question to the Ontario Labour Relations Board under s. 96(1) of the Labour Relations Act regarding his authority to appoint a person to constitute a Board of Arbitration.

The trade union and the employer were bound by a collective agreement that expired, and the union sought to invoke an interest arbitration provision for the next agreement.

The employer refused to appoint a nominee, and the union filed a grievance alleging a breach of the statutory freeze period under s. 70(1).

The Board held that s. 70(3) allows alleged breaches of the freeze period to be referred to arbitration, and incorporates s. 37(4) which permits the Minister to appoint an arbitrator.

The Board concluded that the Minister has the jurisdiction to appoint a person to constitute a rights arbitration board to rule on the union's interpretation of the preserved provision.

Northwestern Health Unit v. Ontario Nurses' Association, 1980 CanLII 816

S. B. D. Wahl

154 cases1980–2001

Hugh B. Geddes

Charles F. Clark

4 cases1980–1982

R. O. MacDowell

O. Hodges

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardJun 6, 1980

F. W. Murray

OLRB0 cases1980–1988

Board directs representation vote, finding employees' petition to terminate union bargaining rights was voluntary.

The applicants, employees of two related companies, applied to terminate the respondent union's bargaining rights.

The union had recently obtained a related employer declaration sweeping the applicants into the bargaining unit.

The union argued the Board should exercise its discretion to bar the termination application and challenged the voluntariness of the employees' petition.

The Board held it lacked authority to impose a bar analogous to a sale of business scenario and found the employees' opposition to the union was voluntary.

A representation vote was directed.

Robert Woelk and Randal Koop v. International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 793, 1980 CanLII 925

Kathleen G. O'Neil

F. G. Jones

Carmen Dyer

W.F. Rutherford

R. O. MacDowell

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardMay 28, 1980

C. G. Boume

OLRB0 cases1980–1980

Board finds sale of business occurred and preserves nurses' existing bargaining rights at transferred hospital facilities.

The applicant hospital sought a determination under section 55 of the Labour Relations Act regarding the transfer of two chronic care facilities from Victoria Hospital to Parkwood Hospital.

The Board found that a sale of part of a business had occurred.

The Board further held that the existing bargaining rights of the Ontario Nurses' Association for the full-time and part-time nurses at the transferred facilities should be preserved, as the units remained self-contained and there were no compelling reasons to alter the collective bargaining status quo.

The Women's Christian Association of London v. Ontario Nurses Association, 1980 CanLII 911

Harry Kopyto

5 cases1980–1991

E. T. McDermott

15 cases1980–1996

R. O. MacDowell

O. Hodges

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardMay 22, 1980

J. D. Bell

OLRB0 cases1980–1985

Health and safety reprisal complaint dismissed; employer's disciplinary actions justified by employee's flagrant insubordination.

The complainant, a machine repairman, alleged that his employer engaged in a campaign of harassment and improper discipline in reprisal for his filing of a health and safety complaint under The Employees' Health and Safety Act.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board found that the complainant's initial refusal to work was not based on a reasonable belief that the workplace was unsafe, but rather on a dispute over which hospital he would be sent to if injured.

The Board concluded that the employer's subsequent disciplinary actions and insistence that the complainant wear mandatory hearing protection were justified by the complainant's flagrant insubordination, erratic attendance, and refusal to comply with safety rules.

The complaint was dismissed as being entirely without merit.

Joseph William Martin v. General Motors of Canada Limited, 1980 CanLII 953

P. M. Barkla

Kevin Corporon

2 cases1980–1983

I. H. Grisdale

H. E. Divine

Harold F. Caley

51 cases1980–2003

D. A. Gendron

C. G. Riggs

17 cases1980–1998

R. O. MacDowell

C. G. Bourne

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardMay 22, 1980

C. A. Ballentine

OLRB0 cases1980–1992

Mushroom farm employees are 'employed in agriculture' and excluded from the Labour Relations Act.

The applicant union applied for certification for employees of a mushroom farm.

The respondent employer argued that the employees were 'employed in agriculture' and thus excluded from The Labour Relations Act.

The Board found that although the mushroom farm operated much like a manufacturing facility with a highly controlled environment and factory-like conditions, the fundamental process was the natural growing of a crop.

Therefore, the employees were engaged in agriculture and excluded from the Act.

The application for certification was dismissed.

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union v. Wellington Mushroom Farm, 1980 CanLII 891

Garth Brillinger

Corinne Murray

3 cases1980–1980

R. O. MacDowell

H.J.F. Ade

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardMay 16, 1980

C. Ballentine

OLRB0 cases1980–1986

Board preserves existing bargaining rights of transferred Crown employees where no intermingling occurred with municipal employees.

The applicant union applied under sections 2 and 4 of The Successor Rights (Crown Transfers) Act following the transfer of two sewage treatment plants from the Crown to the City of Timmins.

The applicant, which represented the City's outside workers, argued that the transferred employees should be accreted to its existing bargaining unit.

The Board found that there was no intermingling between the transferred employees and the City's existing employees.

Emphasizing that the purpose of the successor rights legislation is to preserve rather than extinguish bargaining rights, the Board declined to alter the bargaining structure.

The Board declared the City a successor employer and affirmed that the intervener union continued to represent the transferred employees.

Canadian Union of Public Employees and its Local 210 v. The Corporation of the City of Timmins, 1980 CanLII 936

Stephen W. Peglar

James K. A. Hayes

12 cases1980–2005

C. G. Riggs

17 cases1980–1998

R. O. MacDowell

M. J. Fenwick

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardMay 14, 1980

G. Bourne

OLRB0 cases1980–1980

Board refused to extend terminal date for late employee objections and granted union certification.

The applicant union applied for certification.

A group of objecting employees sought to extend the terminal date to admit two late handwritten statements of objection.

The Board declined to extend the terminal date, finding that the employees had ample opportunity to read the posted notices and file their objections in a timely manner.

As the union had the requisite membership support on the terminal date, the Board granted certification without a representation vote.

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union v. Hostess Food Products Limited, 1980 CanLII 961

Michael Dunlap

John G. Dunlap, Q.C.

W.F. Rutherford

R. O. MacDowell

C. G. Bourne

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardApr 16, 1980

Transfer of restaurant assets through a landlord after lease surrender is not a sale of a business.

The applicant union alleged that a sale of a business occurred under section 55 of the Labour Relations Act when the respondent leased restaurant premises and purchased assets formerly used by Skyline Hotels Ltd. Skyline had surrendered its lease to the landlord, Campeau Corporation, following litigation.

Campeau subsequently leased the premises and sold the assets to the respondent.

The Board found that Skyline transferred surplus assets to Campeau, who then transferred them to the respondent, and that these separate transactions did not constitute a sale of a business.

The application was dismissed.

Hotels, Clubs, Restaurants & Tavern Employees' Union, Local 261 v. Calmil Enterprises, 1980 CanLII 772

R. O. MacDowell

F. W. Murray

OLRB0 cases1980–1988

0. Hodges

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardMar 24, 1980

Board finds Research Officer not employed in a confidential capacity and therefore an employee under the Act.

The applicant union applied under section 95(2) of the Labour Relations Act for a determination of the employee status of a newly appointed Research Officer.

The respondent employer argued the employee should be excluded under section 1(3)(b) as she was employed in a confidential capacity in matters relating to labour relations.

The Board found that the employee's involvement in collective bargaining was peripheral and merely incidental to her general duties, as she only gathered publicly available data and had no input into its use or access to confidential bargaining strategy.

The Board concluded the employee was not regularly and materially involved in labour relations matters and therefore was not excluded from the collective bargaining process.

Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 343 v. Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, 1980 CanLII 786

S. Krashinsky

5 cases1980–2000

L. Collins

3 cases1980–2017

James Phelan

In Private Practice1 case1980–1980

H. P. Rolph

19 cases1980–2016

Harold F. Caley

51 cases1980–2003

W.F. Rutherford

R. O. MacDowell

J. A. Ronson

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardMar 19, 1980

Board confirms jurisdiction to order pre-hearing vote before determining trade union status; applicant found valid.

The applicant union applied for certification to displace the intervener union and requested a pre-hearing representation vote.

The intervener opposed the application, arguing the Board lacked jurisdiction to order a vote before determining the applicant's trade union status, and that the applicant was not a valid trade union due to an allegedly invalid merger.

The Board held it had jurisdiction under section 8 of the Labour Relations Act to order a pre-hearing vote and defer the status issue.

The Board further found that the applicant was a valid trade union within the meaning of section 1(1)(n) of the Act, as the employees had taken the proper steps to form the organization, regardless of the validity of the parent unions' merger.

The Board directed the ballots to be unsealed and counted.

Teamsters, Chemical, Energy and Allied Workers, Local Union No. 1552 v. Emery Industries Limited, 1980 CanLII 923

Maurice A. Green

34 cases1980–2009

R. O. MacDowell

OLRBOntario Labour Relations BoardMar 17, 1980

Duty of fair representation complaint dismissed; union's decision to settle grievance was reasonable and not arbitrary.

The complainant alleged that the respondent trade union breached its duty of fair representation under section 60 of the Labour Relations Act by settling a grievance concerning compulsory overtime rather than taking it to arbitration.

The grievors had been suspended for refusing to work overtime during an annual plant shutdown.

The union processed the grievance, obtained a legal opinion indicating uncertain prospects of success, and ultimately negotiated a settlement that substituted written warnings for the suspensions, provided partial back pay, and secured double time for future shutdown overtime.

The Board dismissed the complaint, finding that the union carefully weighed the merits of the case and the interests of the bargaining unit, and that its decision to settle was not arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.

James H. Hopson v. International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 796 & York University, 1980 CanLII 905

S. C. Bernardo

42 cases1980–2001

S. B. D. Wahl

154 cases1980–2001

P. Gauthier

3 cases1980–1981

George K. Murray

R. O. MacDowell