GSB#2018-2713

UNION#2018-0649-0024

IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION

Under

THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT

Before

THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD

BETWEEN

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Delost)

Union

• and -

The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines)

Employer

BEFORE

Ken Petryshen

Arbitrator

FOR THE UNION

Dan Hales Ontario Public Service Employees Union Grievance Officer

FOR THE EMPLOYER

Justin O’Gorman Treasury Board Secretariat Employee Relations Advisor

HEARING

September 12, 2019 (by teleconference)

Decision

1The grievance before me is dated October 4, 2017, and was filed on behalf of Ms. J. Delost. At the relevant time Ms. Delost was in an Administrative Assistant position at the 08OAD level. The Employer has taken the position that Ms. Delost’s grievance is a classification grievance and that the Board does not have the jurisdiction to deal with it. The Employer’s motion to have the grievance dismissed was addressed during a teleconference.

2The relevant features of Ms. Delost’s grievance read as follows:

STATEMENT OF GRIEVANCE

I grieve specifically but not exclusively that the Employer is in violation of Articles 2, 7, 8, Appendix 7 and the Unified Wage Schedule of the Collective Agreement, legislation or Ministry policies that may apply when the employer improperly classified my current position as an OAD8 when it should be an OAD10 based on the regular duties I’m being asked to perform on a daily basis. The current pay scale does not reflect the scope of my responsibilities and qualifications in my current position.

SETTLEMENT DESIRED

3. To be immediately reclassified as an OAD10 and back dated to January 1, 2015.

3During the conference call I expressed the view that the grievance looks like a typical classification grievance. There was nothing in the brief conversation that ensued to suggest that the grievance was anything other than a classification grievance.

4Section 52 (1) of the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act and article 22.12 of the Collective Agreement, which references the Joint System Subcommittee (“JSSC”), make it clear that the GSB does not have the jurisdiction to deal with classification grievances.

5Accordingly, given that Ms. Delost’s grievance is a classification grievance and that the GSB lacks the jurisdiction to deal with her grievance, I have no alternative but to dismiss Ms. Delost’s grievance dated October 4, 2017, in so far as the GSB process is concerned. I understand that the Union intends to pursue the grievance at the JSSC.