GSB# 2018-2112; 2019-1024; 2019-1025

UNION# 2018-0533-0005; 2018-0533-0010; 2019-0533-0007

IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION

Under

THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT

Before

THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD

BETWEEN

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Chung)

Union

• and -

The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Government and Consumer Services)

Employer

BEFORE

Janice Johnston

Arbitrator

FOR THE UNION

Manprit Singh Ryder Wright Blair & Holmes LLP Counsel

FOR THE EMPLOYER

Jonathan Rabinovitch Treasury Board Secretariat Legal Services Branch Counsel

HEARING

September 11, 2019

DECISION

1This matter was scheduled for mediation on April 11, 2019, pursuant to the expedited process set out in Article 22.16 of the collective agreement. Article 22.16 states in part:

22.16.2 The mediator/arbitrator shall endeavour to assist the parties to settle the grievance by mediation. If the parties are unable to settle the grievance by mediation, the mediator/arbitrator shall determine the grievance by arbitration. When determining the grievance by arbitration, the mediator/arbitrator may limit the nature and extent of the evidence and may impose such conditions as he or she considers appropriate. The mediator/arbitrator shall give a succinct decision within five (5) days after completing proceedings, unless the parties agree otherwise.

22.16.7 Decisions reached through the mediation/arbitration process shall have no precedential value unless the parties agree otherwise.

2I have three grievances before me in this case.

3In Grievance No: 2018-0533-0005 filed on June 21, 2018 the Grievor alleges:

I grieve that the employer has violated my rights with regards to but not restricted to Articles 2, 6, 9 & 8.1.1 of the OPSEU collective agreement.

The settlement desired is “Advancement to an SO7 level position”

4In Grievance No: 2018-0533-0010 filed on December 8, 2019 the Grievor alleges:

I grieve that my rights have been violated through articles 2, 3, and 21, as well as any other article, policy or legislation made known in the course of this grievance.

The settlement desired is “Full redress, including the removal of the letter of reprimand on file”

5In Grievance No: 2019-0533-0007 filed on April 30, 2019 the Grievor alleges:

I grieve that my rights have been violated through articles 2, 3, and 9, as well as any other article, policy or legislation made known in the course of this grievance.

The settlement desired is:

1. Return to work and have equal rights as other staff members in the same unit and approve the accommodation requests by the doctor’s “return-to-work” medical questionnaire requested on Apr 9th,

2. Ensure development work is performed in a healthy working environment during the period of outstanding ongoing grievances,

3. Have access authorizations to all related servers, development, libraries, sources supported within the unit.

6We were unable to reach a settlement on April 11th. At the end of the first day, the parties agreed to continue settlement discussions. These were unsuccessful and the matter was scheduled to continue on September 11, 2019. The mediation was again unsuccessful. Therefore, we explored ways of expediting the arbitration.

7I directed the Union to provide a Will Say from the grievor that shall provide specific particulars with regard to any alleged statements made by the Employer, or alleged conduct on the part of the Employer that constituted a violation of the collective agreement or any relevant employment statutes with regard to grievances Number 2018-0533-0005 and 2019-0533-0007. This Will Say will be provided to the Board by December 13, 2019. The Employer was directed to provide a Will Say from Mr. Munish Sabharwal by December 13, 2019 which shall outline the reasons why he issued a letter of reprimand to the grievor on November 20, 2018.

8After the submissions have been filed a conference call shall be scheduled to determine next steps to be taken in this case.

9To ensure that this case did get dealt with in a timely fashion we agreed to set March 24, 2020 as a potential hearing date if one was deemed necessary.