Ray Kurki

The complainant union filed a jurisdictional dispute complaint regarding the assignment of work by a subcontractor.

The respondent union had initially filed a grievance demanding the work, but later withdrew it.

The respondent union then brought a motion arguing the Board lacked jurisdiction or should decline to inquire into the complaint since there was no longer a demand to change the work assignment.

The Board held that, assuming it had jurisdiction, it was appropriate to exercise its discretion not to inquire further into the complaint because the underlying dispute had disappeared with the withdrawal of the grievance.

The complaint was dismissed.

In a jurisdictional dispute over the application of aluminum cladding or lagging over insulation, the respondent Sheet Metal Workers brought a preliminary motion to dismiss the complaint.

They argued that the work in dispute was sheet metal work, a compulsory certified trade under the Apprenticeship and Tradesmen's Qualification Act, and could therefore only lawfully be assigned to journeymen or apprentice sheet metal workers.

The Board dismissed the preliminary motion, finding that the Apprenticeship Act does not provide any trade with an exclusive jurisdiction and that trade jurisdictions in the construction industry frequently overlap.

The Board concluded it would be inappropriate to determine the issue without a full hearing on the merits.