GSB# 2004-1463, 2004-1473, 2004-1814, 2004-1985
UNION# 2003-0517-0069, 2004-0517-0055, 2004-0517-0061, 2004-0517-0078
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Beek et al.)
Union
- and -
The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services)
Employer
BEFORE
Ken Petryshen
Vice-Chair
FOR THE UNION
Tim Hannigan Ryder Wright Blair & Holmes LLP Barristers and Solicitors
FOR THE EMPLOYER
Simon Heath Counsel Ministry of Government and Consumer Services
CONFERENCE CALL
January 22, 2008.
Decision
I have a number of grievances before me filed by Correctional Officers (“COs”) claiming that the Employer violated the Collective Agreement when it placed them at the first step of the pay range of the CO2 classification after rehiring them. They claim that they should have been treated like other COs who were rehired and placed at a step above the start rate. The Employer took the position that the GSB did not have the jurisdiction to entertain these grievances. In a decision dated July 12, 2007, I determined that the GSB does have the jurisdiction to hear these grievances. The grievances were scheduled to be heard commencing on February 4, 2008.
I participated in a conference call with counsel on January 22, 2008 to discuss procedural issues. Having regard to the positions taken by counsel as to how this matter should proceed, I make the following directions.
The Union is directed to provide to counsel for the Employer, no latter than six weeks from the date of this decision, a written statement setting out the basis for each grievor’s claim that he or she was not placed at the right step of the CO2 classification upon rehire. The statement for each grievor shall include the name of the institution from which they left and the date of separation, the name of the institution they returned to and when they returned, and what employment, if any, they were engaged in during the interim.
The Employer is directed to provide to counsel for the Union, no later than six weeks from the date it received the written statement from the Union, a written statement setting out the reasons why each grievor was placed at the first step of the CO2 classification and why it has not contravened the Collective Agreement with respect to their placement. The statement from the Employer shall indicate whether the information provided by the Union is different from the information that it has about a grievor. Its statement shall also provide information about the employees identified by the Union as falling within the comparator group, including what institution they left and when, the institution they returned to and when they returned, what employment, if any, they had during the interim, and at what step of the pay range each employee in the comparator group was placed and why.
I will leave it to counsel to determine if another conference call would be useful once each party has had the opportunity to review the written statement of the opposite party. As agreed between counsel, the hearing dates in February of 2008 are adjourned and the hearing will now commence on Tuesday, May 20, 2008.
Dated at Toronto, this 28th day of January 2008.