Sophia Duguay

The applicant filed an application under section 34 of the Human Rights Code and requested expedited processing under Rule 21.

Both parties agreed to mediation.

The Tribunal ordered mediation to be scheduled within three weeks and deferred the decision on the request for expedited processing until after the mediation.

The applicant union filed displacement applications for certification seeking to represent service employees at the Trenton Memorial Hospital site of the Quinte Healthcare Corporation.

The responding hospital and the incumbent union argued the applications were barred by an agreement made under the Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act, 1997 (PSLRTA) following a hospital amalgamation.

The Board found that the incumbent union, acting as the bargaining agent for multiple existing bargaining units, could validly enter into a section 20(2) PSLRTA agreement with the employer to consolidate the units.

As a valid agreement was in effect prior to the application date, the applications were barred and dismissed without a representation vote.

The union applied for certification to represent a bargaining unit of full-time drivers and mechanics.

The employer responded by proposing a combined full-time and part-time unit and gave notice under section 8.1 of the Labour Relations Act.

A representation vote was held, and the union won a majority in the combined unit but lost in the full-time only unit.

The parties then swapped their positions on the appropriate unit.

The Board found the combined unit appropriate and held that section 8.1 only requires the union to have 40 percent membership support in the unit proposed in its application, not the unit ultimately found appropriate.

The union was certified to represent the combined unit.

Following the amalgamation of three municipalities into Loyalist Township, the Ontario Labour Relations Board determined the appropriate bargaining unit structure under the Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act, 1997.

The employer and the dominant trade union, CUPE, argued for two separate units for full-time and part-time employees, reflecting the historical status quo.

SEIU argued for a single all-employee unit.

The Board ordered two separate bargaining units, finding that maintaining the historical separation of full-time and part-time employees best served the purposes of the Act.