[1989] OLRB Rep. October 1064
3109-88-R; 3120-88-R International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 353, Applicant v. P & M Electric (1982) Ltd., Northland Electric (Ont.) Limited, Respondents v. Group of Employees, Objectors; I.B.E.W. Construction Council of Ontario, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 105, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 353, Applicants v. P & M Electric Limited, Pomico Holdings Inc., P & M Electric (1982) Ltd., Northland Electric (Ont) Limited, Respondents
BEFORE: G. T. Surdykowski, Vice-Chair, and Board Members W. N. Fraser and H. Kobryn.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; October 30, 1989
- By letter dated October 24, 1989, the applicant in the certification application herein ("Local 353") asks that an interim certificate issue in this matter as follows:
We are in receipt of the decision of the Board dated October 17, 1989.
This decision makes a final determination with respect to entitlement to a certificate in the appropriate bargaining unit with respect to OLRB Geographic Area 8. The only outstanding issue concerns the Section 1(4) and/or 63 application relating to Northland Electric (Ont.) Limited. Accordingly we respectfully submit that a Section 6(2) interim certificate ought to issue with respect to the employees of P&M Electric (1982) Ltd. ("P&M") pending the final resolution of the remaining issues. We wish to emphasize that the Board heard extensive evidence with respect to the highrise residential projects being undertaken by P&M. By virtue of the Accreditation Order in respect of the residential sector of the construction industry within OLRB Geographic Area, 8 a collective agreement binds P&M in respect of such residential construction upon the issuance of an interim certificate.
We respectfully request that the Board see to this matter directly.
In paragraph 46 of its October 17, 1989 decision herein, the Board stated:
There has therefore been insufficient doubt raised concerning the support enjoyed by the applicant to cause the Board to exercise its discretion under section 7(2) of the Labour Relations Act to direct that a representation vote be held. Having regard to the Board's findings in its June 7, 1989 decision and herein, the applicant is entitled to be certified. The only remaining issue is whether P & M and Northland Electric (Ont.) Limited should be treated as constituting one employer for purposes of the Act. On the material before the Board, however, the disposition of this issue cannot, affect the applicant's right to certification with respect to P & M. Consequently, pursuant to section 6(2) of the Act and pending the final disposition of the application for relief under sections 1(4) and 63, the Board finds it appropriate to certify the applicant with respect to all journeymen and apprentice electricians in the employ of P & M Electric (1982) Ltd. in all sectors of the construction industry, excluding the industrial, commercial and institutional sector, in the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, the Regional Municipalities of Peel and York, the Towns of Oakville and Halton Hills and that portion of the Town of Milton within the geographic Townships of Esquesing and Trafalgar, and the Towns of Ajax and Pickering in the Regional Municipality of Durham, save and except non-working foremen and persons above the rank of non-working foreman. A formal certificate must await the disposition of the section 1(4) and section 63 matters. There is of course no need to deal with the applicant's request for relief under section 8.
[emphasis added]
Consequently, it should be evident that the Board has certified the applicant as the bargaining agent for certain employees of the respondent P & M Electric (1982) Ltd. (that is, those employees in the bargaining unit as set out in paragraph 46) on an interim basis pursuant to section 6(2) of the Labour Relations Act. Final certification must await the disposition of what appear to be the sole remaining issues in these proceedings (namely the requests for relief under sections 1(4) and 63 of the Act) which will determine who is the respondent in the certification matter. Until the name of the employer referenced in it can be ascertained, the composition of the bargaining unit cannot be finally resolved.
The Labour Relations Act contemplates that a document called a Certificate will issue to a trade union which applies for certification and is found by the Board to be entitled to be certified (see, for example, sections 5(2), 57(1), 61(1) and (3), and 144(2)). There is nothing in the Act which contemplates any interim certificate document. In practice, the Board does not issue interim certificates as such. The only "document" issued in that respect will be the written decision, if any, in which the Board records its determination that it is appropriate to certify an applicant trade union on an interim basis pursuant to section 6(2) of the Act (for discussion of the Board's practice in this respect and the effect of interim certification in general see Comstock Funeral Home Ltd., [1982] OLRB Rep. Oct. 1436).
In the result, it is neither necessary nor appropriate to issue an interim certificate document and Local 353's request in that respect is denied.