Ontario Labour Relations Board
[1982] OLRB Rep. April 517
1673-81-R Sharon Hill and Solange Denault, Applicants, v. The Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 151 A.F.L. - C.L.C., Respondent, v. Anson General Hospital, Intervener.
BEFORE: Kevin M. Burkett, Alternate Chairman and Board Members B. Armstrong and F. W. Murray.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; April 1, 1982
This is an application under section 57(2) of the Labour Relations Act.
By a decision of the Board dated February 5, 1982, and pursuant to section 103(2)(h) of the Labour Relations Act, the Board appointed R.O. MacDowell, Vice-Chairman to conduct an enquiry into this application and to report his findings of fact to the Board. Those findings are as follows:
(1) This is an application under section 57(2) of the Labour Relations Act. I have been appointed by the Board, pursuant to section 103(2)(h) of the Act, to inquire into this matter and report to the Board. A hearing for this purpose was held in Timmins, Ontario, on March 11, 1982. Although duly served with notice of the hearing, no one appeared on behalf of the respondent union. The testimony of the applicant employees was not contradicted.
(2) The respondent union is the bargaining agent for a small bargaining unit of office employees at Anson General Hospital. The recognition clause in the latest collective agreement between the respondent and the intervener reads as follows:
"The employer agrees to recongize the union as the sole bargaining agency for employees of the Anson General Hospital engaged in office work; specifically those engaged in the occupations listed in Schedule 'A' attached, save and except the Administrator's secretary.
Decisions concerning the inclusion or exclusion from the bargaining unit of new positions or positions of altered responsibility shall be based on the general lines established in the above mentioned Schedule 'A'
Schedule "A" to the collective agreement and a list filed by the intervener indicate that there are three employees in this bargaining unit. Those three employees are: Sharon Peever, and the applicants Sharon Hill and Solange Denault.
(3) Ms. Hill and Ms. Denault obtained the forms to initiate this proceeding from the Labour Relations Board. The application for termination is signed by both of them. There was no managerial involvement whatsoever. The application was their own idea. It is entirely voluntary. The collective agreement by which they were formerly bound has now expired and no efforts have been made to negotiate a new one. No notice to bargain has been delivered to the intervener. As the two employees put it, they seem to have been forgotten.
(4) On the basis of the evidence adduced before me, I find that two of the three employees in the bargaining unit represented by the respondent have voluntarily signified in writing that they no longer wish to be represented by the union.
The Board adopts those findings of fact and in light thereof, the Board is satisfied that not less than forty-five per cent of the employees of Anson General Hospital in Iroquois Falls, Ontario, in the bargaining unit at the time the application was made have voluntarily signified in writing that they no longer wish to be represented by the respondent union as of November 19, 1981, the terminal date fixed for this application and the date which the Board determines under section 103(2)(j) of the Labour Relations Act to be the time for the purpose of ascertaining the number of persons who have voluntarily signified in writing that they no longer wish to be represented by the respondent under section 57(3) of the Act.
The Board directs that a representation vote be taken of the employees of Anson General Hospital. Those eligible to vote are all employees of Anson General Hospital engaged in office work; specifically engaged in occupations, Clerk and Junior Clerk, save and except the administrator's secretary, 58 Anson Drive, Iroquois Falls, Ontario, in the Township of Calvert, in the District of Cochrane, on the date hereof who do not voluntarily terminate their employment or who are not discharged for cause between the date hereof and the date the vote is taken.
Voters will be asked to indicate whether or not they wish to be represented by the respondent union in their employment relations with Anson General Hospital.
The matter is referred to the Registrar. In view of the size and geographic isolation of the bargaining unit, the Registrar is hereby authorized to conduct the representation vote by mailed ballot.