The appellant employer challenged a labour tribunal order authorizing an employee to pursue arbitration of a dismissal grievance after the union had withdrawn it through a general grievance settlement reached during collective agreement renewal.
The Court held that the union's duty of fair representation required serious, good faith consideration of the employee's dismissal grievance and that the union acted arbitrarily and with serious negligence by disposing of it without the employee's knowledge on grounds unrelated to the merits.
The Court further held that a settlement agreement between union and employer was not equivalent to an arbitral award or civil transaction barring further recourse, and that the Labour Court had jurisdiction under ss. 47.2 to 47.6 of the Labour Code to refer the claim to arbitration where no arbitral decision on the merits had yet been made.
The appeal was dismissed with costs.
