Stephen Coleman

The applicants alleged that the Mechanical Contractors Association of Windsor (MCAW) violated the Labour Relations Act by refusing to execute amendments to trust agreements to transform jointly trusteed pension and welfare funds into funds administered solely by union-appointed trustees, pursuant to a May 18, 1995 agreement.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board found that while the May 18 agreement established a process for creating new trust plans administered solely by the union, it did not require the trustees of the existing benefit trusts to transfer the assets and funds for which they were responsible to the newly created trust plans.

The application was therefore dismissed.

The union filed a grievance and an unfair labour practice complaint alleging that local employers and the Mechanical Contractors Association of Windsor (MCAW) breached the provincial collective agreement and the Labour Relations Act by refusing to implement provincially-negotiated changes to a local pension and welfare benefit plan.

The MCAW argued that the plan pre-dated provincial bargaining, operated outside the collective agreement, and that the Board should defer to the Courts or the plan's trust dispute mechanism.

The Board declined to defer, finding that the dispute engaged its exclusive jurisdiction over the statutory scheme and its role as the designated arbitrator for construction industry collective agreements.

The Board directed that the matters be listed for a hearing on the merits.