GSB # 342/97
OPSEU # 97B538
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
(Group Grievance)
Grievor
- and -
The Crown in Right of Ontario
(Ministry of Health)
Employer
BEFORE Barry B. Fisher Vice Chair
FOR THE Andrew Pinto
GRIEVOR Barrister & Solicitor
FOR THE Fateh Salim
EMPLOYER Counsel Legal Services Branch Management Board Secretariat
HEARING July 18, 2000
Award
This group grievance relates to a number of maintenance employees at the St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital who are claiming stand by pay.
Just prior to the 1996 OPS strike the grievors were provided with individual letters from the Assistant Administrator Support Services of the Hospital advising them that they had been designated as Emergency Services workers in accordance with Essential Services Agreement negotiated between the parties.
The letter contained the following statements:
During any work stoppage, if your manager determines that there is an emergency situation for which you are required to report to work, you will be contacted with details of when and where to report to perform the emergency services work. You are legally required to report for work when you are contacted, and to perform the emergency services work assigned to you.
As an emergency worker, you will be covered by the provisions of the most recent collective agreement on the day(s) you perform the emergency service. Your rate of pay and benefits for these day(s) will remain unchanged. You will be entitled to any premium payments applicable to the work you perform.
In fact the grievors were not called upon to work at all during the strike. However they feel that since they had to keep themselves ready, willing and able to report to work at a moments notice, that they should receive stand by pay in accordance with Article TEC 10 of the 1994-1998 Collective Agreement.
However on June 28,1996 Vice Chair Roberts of the Grievance Settlement Board in decision 626/96 incorporated a comprehensive settlement of numerous matters arising from the strike and return to work issues. Paragraph 6 of that award reads as follows:
All grievances requesting premium payments for anyone designated as an emergency worker are hereby withdrawn, except where an authorized representative of the employer made a commitment to make premium payments.
There is no dispute that these grievors are covered by this master settlement and award. The only provision in the letter that could constitute “ a commitment to make premium payments” would be the sentence “You will be entitled to any premium payments applicable to the work you perform.”
However that was a commitment to pay premium payments if and only if emergency work was actually performed. No such work was performed in this case.
There is clear therefore that this grievance is covered by the Roberts award and has already been withdrawn.
The grievance is therefore dismissed.
Dated at Toronto this 25th day of July 2000