GSB# 2005-1554, 2005-1555, 2005-1556, 2005-1557, 2005-1558, 2005-1559, 2005-1560, 2005-1561, 2005-1562, 2005-1563, 2005-1564, 2005-1565, 2005-1566, 2005-1567, 2005-1568, 2005-1569, 2005-1570, 2005-1571, 2005-1572, 2005-1573, 2005-1574, 2005-1575, 2005-1576, 2005-1577, 2005-1578, 2005-1579, 2005-1580, 2005-1581, 2005-1582, 2005-1583, 2005-2059, 2005-2139, 2005-2140, 2005-2141, 2005-2230, 2005-2337, 2005-2338, 2005-2459, 2005-2497, 2005-2576, 2005-2577
UNION# 2005-0234-0178, 2005-0234-0179, 2005-0234-0180, 2005-0234-0181, 2005-0234-0182, 2005-0234-0183, 2005-0234-0184, 2005-0234-0185, 2005-0234-0186, 2005-0234-0187, 2005-0234-0188, 2005-0234-0189, 2005-0234-0190, 2005-0234-0191, 2005-0234-0192, 2005-0234-0193, 2005-0234-0194, 2005-0234-0195, 2005-0234-0196, 2005-0234-0197, 2005-0234-0198, 2005-0234-0199, 2005-0234-0200, 2005-0234-0201, 2005-0234-0202, 2005-0234-0203, 2005-0234-0204, 2005-0234-0205, 2005-0234-0206, 2005-0234-0207, 2005-0234-0230, 2005-0234-0233, 2005-0234-0234, 2005-0234-0235, 2005-0368-0097, 2005-0234-0261, 2005-0234-0262, 2005-0467-0021, 2005-0128-0074, 2005-0234-0312, 2005-0234-0313
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Brown et al.)
Union
- and -
The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services)
Employer
BEFORE
Barry Stephens
Vice-Chair
FOR THE UNION
Stephen Giles Grievance Officer Ontario Public Service Employees Union
FOR THE EMPLOYER
Rena Khan Staff Relations Officer Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
HEARING
December 13, 2005.
Decision
The grievances come from employees in different job classifications who allege that the employer is in violation of the collective agreement in that the various job classifications in question have not been included in the group of classifications covered by the Correctional bargaining unit. The employees in question are all OPSEU members who work in provincial correctional facilities but are not part of the Corrections bargaining unit.
The parties proceeded by way of agreed statement of fact, and jointly submitted the following evidence. The legal requirement for bargaining units in the OPS is set out in s.23 of the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act (CECBA). There are six bargaining units established by order-in-council that are represented by OPSEU: Administrative, Corrections, Institutional & Health Care, Office Administration, Operational & Maintenance, and Technical. The positions listed in each bargaining unit transcend specific work locations and address only classification titles. For the purposes of administration during bargaining, all but the Corrections bargaining unit are consolidated into one category referred to as the “unified” bargaining unit, while Corrections is a stand-alone unit. This structure is reflected in the structure of the collective agreement. The parties may negotiate in each round of OPS bargaining with respect to the job categories that form each of the six bargaining units. In general, however, the structure and composition of the bargaining units has remained unchanged since 1994.
The current collective agreement was ratified in June 2005, and contains the following provisions relevant to the recognition of the bargaining units:
ARTICLE 1 - RECOGNITION
1.1 The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) is recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for a bargaining unit consisting of all employees employed in positions contained within the six bargaining units as described by the Lieutenant Governor in Council in OIC 243/94 dated February 3, 1994, in the Tripartite Agreement between the Crown, OPSEU and AMAPCEO dated April 21, 1995, plus those employees included in the six bargaining units by the agreement of the Crown and OPSEU from February 3, 1994 to December 31, 2004. For greater clarity, this bargaining unit consists of all employees contained in the bargaining units described in OIC 243/94 attached hereto as Appendix 2, and does not include the seventh bargaining unit referred to in the said Order in Council:
1.2 For greater certainty, such employees include classified, term classified, and unclassified employees, students, GO Temps and such other employees as may be mutually agreed.
1.3 For greater certainty, the Central Collective agreement shall apply to the employees employed in positions in the bargaining unit described in article 1.1 and the bargaining unit shall be deemed to be amended in accordance with any agreement of the parties to amend any of the bargaining units listed therein.
The recognition clauses for the two Bargaining Units are as follows:
ARTICLE UN 1 - RECOGNITION
UN 1.1 The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) for the purpose of this collective agreement is recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for a bargaining unit consisting of all employees contained within the Unified Bargaining Unit. The Unified Bargaining Unit consists of all employees contained in the Administrative Bargaining Unit, the Institutional and Health Care Bargaining Unit, the Office Administration Bargaining Unit, the Operation and Maintenance Bargaining Unit, and the Technical Bargaining Unit as described in Article 1.1 of the Central Collective Agreement, and such description is deemed to be incorporated in this collective agreement.
UN 1.2 For greater certainty, such employees include classified, term classified, unclassified employees, students, GO Temps, and such other employees as may be mutually agreed.
UN 1.3 For greater certainty, this Agreement shall apply to the employees in the Unified Bargaining Unit and the bargaining unit shall be deemed to be amended in accordance with any agreement of the parties. A list of classifications is attached in the Salary Schedule.
ARTICLE COR1 – RECOGNITION
COR1.1 The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) for the purpose of this collective agreement is recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for a bargaining unit consisting of all employees contained within the Correctional Bargaining Unit. The Correctional Bargaining Unit consists of all employees contained in the Correctional Bargaining Unit as described in Article 1.1 of the Central Collective Agreement, and such description is deemed to be incorporated in this collective agreement.
COR 1.2 For greater certainty, such employees include classified, term classified, unclassified employees, students, GO Temps, and such other employees as may be mutually agreed.
COR1.3 For greater certainty, this agreement shall apply to the employees in the Correctional Bargaining Unit and the bargaining unit shall be deemed to be amended in accordance with any agreement of the parties. A list of classifications is attached in the Salary Schedule.
Finally, the parties agreed that the specific issue raised by the grievance, i.e. the amendment of the classifications included under the Corrections bargaining unit, is a matter that can only effected on consent of both parties. OPSEU specifically concedes that there is no dispute with respect to the employer’s administration and implementation of the job classification in the Unified or Corrections bargaining unit in relation to the specific job classifications identified in the instance grievances.
After reviewing the submissions of the parties and the collective agreement, it is my conclusion that there is no evidence that the employer has breached the collective agreement or the relevant legislation in the manner in which it has administered the job classifications negotiated by the parties. Indeed, there is no evidence of a dispute between the parties about the assignment of job classifications. As a result, the grievances are dismissed.
Dated at Toronto, this 6th day of February, 2006.