The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) alleged that a rationalization plan transferring obstetrics and paediatrics services from St. Mary's General Hospital to Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital constituted a 'sale of a business' under section 63 of the Labour Relations Act.
The Board found that a sale of part of St. Mary's business had occurred and that the employees were intermingled.
However, because ONA represented only a small percentage of the resulting 'all nurses' bargaining unit at Kitchener-Waterloo, the Board declined to order a representation vote and declared that ONA no longer held bargaining rights.
The Board also found that Kitchener-Waterloo breached section 66 of the Act by treating St. Mary's nurses as new hires rather than offering them preferential transfer rights, doing so specifically to avoid successor rights obligations.
