[1986] OLRB Rep. July 969
0689-81-M United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 18, Applicant, v. General Contractors Association of Hamilton, Labour Relations Bureau of the Ontario General Contractors Association, Acoustical Association of Ontario, Resilient Flooring Contractors Association of Ontario, Caulking Association of Ontario, Industrial Contractors Association of Canada and Interior Systems Contractors of Ontario, Respondents, v. Ontario Provincial Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Intervener
BEFORE: N. B. Satterfield, Vice-Chairman, and Board Members I. M. Stamp and M. A. Ross.
APPEARANCES: Stanley Simpson, Douglas Wray and J. Tarbutt for the applicant; B. W. Binning, Jim Thomson and Fred Reaume for the respondents; Douglas Wray for the intervener.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; July 11, 1986
The matters herein arise from the referral of a grievance in the construction industry under section 124 of the Labour Relations Act. An interim decision of the Board notes the agreement of the parties that the Board should determine the grievance pursuant to the provisions of the first provincial agreement between the parties, even though it had been filed under a successor provincial agreement. This is because the applicant ("Local 18") had invoked certain provisions of the first provincial agreement. More specifically, Local 18 had sought to have a committee, provided for under clause 19.03 of the provincial agreement which was in effect from September 6, 1978 to April 30, 1980 ("the Agreement"), determine whether there was an established local area work practice of the contractors bound to the Agreement assigning certain work covered by it to members of Local 18, within the local's geographic jurisdiction. The grievance as originally referred to the Board included a variety of work listed in Schedule "A" - Work Covered By This Collective Agreement of the Agreement. By the end of the proceedings, the parties had resolved their dispute respecting all of the work originally at issue except work described as "... the cutting and placing of lagging.". It is with respect to that work which the Board is to determine whether there is an established local area work practice.
It is useful here to set out the full text of Article 19 - Work Jurisdiction of the Agreement:
ARTICLE 19- WORK JURISDICTION
19.01 The assignment of all work claimed in Schedule "A" and which is in accordance with established local area work practice shall be to members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and shall take precedence over any assignment awarded by any method of jurisdictional disputes settlement. Where it can be established, local area work practice shall be as under the Collective Agreements which were in force immediately prior to the effective date and application of this Agreement. For the purpose of this Article "local area" shall mean the geographical jurisdictional area or areas of the local unions or district councils.
19.02 Work jurisdiction not described in Schedule "A" shall be settled by final determination by the Impartial Jurisdictional Disputes Board for settlement of jurisdictional disputes or its successor. Requests for a decision shall be filed by either EBA or Ontario Provincial Council hereinafter referred to as the OPC.
Any assignments made before a final determination by the Impartial Jurisdictional Disputes Board in any local area may or may not, at the discretion of the employer, be changed, but in any event the original assignment shall not be the subject of any grievance claiming damages. However, subsequent assignments shall be made in accordance with the said final determination and such decision shall remain as the established local area work practice until changed by such tribunal.
19.03 The determination of established local area work practice under 19.01 will be placed before a committee for decision. The committee shall be composed of three persons representing the EBA and three representing the OPC. The composition of the representatives of the committee may be changed as best suits either the EBA or the OPC to reflect the interest of the sub-trade or nature of the work in question. Applications for a committee decision will be filed with the EBA in the case of an employer or trade association and with the OPC in the case of the district council or local union. The EBA and the OPC will each process an application according to procedures exclusively adopted by each party. The committee will be convened upon the request of either the EBA or OPC and must meet and hand down a decision within five (5) days of receipt of request for a hearing. The committee may be convened for the purpose of issuing standing decisions. A decision of the committee in favour of the OPC shall secure that local area work practice for the exclusive assignment to members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. The employer shall immediately implement the decision. A decision against the OPC shall not require the assignment of the particular work in question to any other trade. In the event that the committee is unable to render a decision such deadlocked decision may be subject to grievance and arbitration. The committee shall hold its hearings in the local area where a decision was requested.
19.04 A subsequent assignment in violation of a decision mentioned in 19.02 or of a committee's decision shall be considered a violation of this Agreement subject to grievance and arbitration.
19.05 Any assignment of work that is awarded to members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters under the provisions