Leonard Finegold

The Minister of Labour referred a question to the Ontario Labour Relations Board under section 107 of the Labour Relations Act regarding whether the trade union held bargaining rights for the employer's carpenters in all sectors other than the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sector in Board Area 3, and whether the union's request for a conciliation officer was proper.

The employer argued that the union never had non-ICI bargaining rights, or alternatively, had abandoned them.

The Board found that the original 1965 collective agreement granted the union bargaining rights for all sectors, and that the union had not abandoned these rights despite a period of inactivity, as the employer had not performed non-ICI work in the area during that time.

The Board concluded that the union held the bargaining rights and the Minister had the authority to appoint a conciliation officer.

The applicant union referred a construction industry grievance to the Board alleging the respondent employer improperly subcontracted concrete forming work.

The respondent and intervening unions requested a preliminary determination under section 150 of the Labour Relations Act as to whether the work fell within the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sector.

The Board granted the request, finding it appropriate to determine the sector issue before hearing the merits of the grievance, given the potential illegality of the collective agreement if it purported to cover ICI work.