The applicant union applied under section 40a of the Labour Relations Act for a direction to settle a first collective agreement by arbitration.
The parties subsequently reached a collective agreement and the application was withdrawn.
However, the Board issued a ruling on an evidentiary issue raised during the hearing regarding the admissibility of evidence of negotiations that took place after the application was filed.
The majority of the Board held that the cut-off point for relevant evidence in a section 40a application is the date the application is filed, and evidence of post-application bargaining is generally inadmissible.
One Board member dissented.
