OPSEU applied for certification to represent paramedic employees who became employees of the County of Essex following the provincial downloading of land ambulance services.
The County, along with intervenors Teamsters and CUPE, argued the application was barred because the paramedics were already covered by one of their existing collective agreements.
The Board found that the scope clauses of the Teamsters and CUPE collective agreements provided complementary, all-employee coverage with no gap for OPSEU to assert bargaining rights.
Consequently, OPSEU's application was dismissed as untimely or otherwise barred, and the Board directed the remaining parties to determine which of the two existing units the paramedics fall into.
