Cindy Watson

The applicant union referred a construction industry grievance to the Ontario Labour Relations Board, alleging that the respondent, Shell Canada Limited, violated the subcontracting provisions of the Carpenters Provincial Collective Agreement.

Shell raised two preliminary defences: first, that the union had abandoned its bargaining rights prior to the commencement of province-wide bargaining in 1978; and second, that Shell was acting as an owner and purchaser of construction services, not as an employer in the construction industry.

The Board dismissed both defences, finding that the union had asserted its bargaining rights whenever it had the opportunity, and that Shell exercised sufficient control over the construction project to be considered an employer bound by the collective agreement.

The applicants sought to terminate the bargaining rights of the respondent union representing maintenance employees of a trucking company.

The intervener employer argued that its business, which involved hauling freight internationally, was a federal undertaking outside the Board's jurisdiction.

The Board applied constitutional principles and found that the employer's continuous and regular international haulage constituted an undertaking extending beyond the limits of the province.

Consequently, the labour relations of its maintenance employees fell under federal jurisdiction.

The Board declared it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the application.