The Electrical Contractors' Association of Ottawa v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 586
[1989] OLRB Rep. April 34
0282-88-R The Electrical Contractors' Association of Ottawa, Applicant v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 586, Respondent
BEFORE: G. T. Surdykowski, Vice-Chair, and Board Members D. A. MacDonald and N. Wilson.
APPEARANCES: S. C. Bernardo and John DeVries for the applicant; Thomas K. Moffatt for the respondent; Suzanne Duncan and Ron McMaster for Johnson Controls Ltd.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; April 13, 1989
This is an application for accreditation in which the applicant seeks to be accredited as the bargaining agent for certain employers which have a bargaining relationship with the respondent.
Pursuant to Letters Patent issued on October 15, 1964, the applicant is an Ontario corporation without share capital. The applicant's Letters Patent and Bylaw No. 1 authorize it to represent employers in the electrical construction industry in labour relations matters, and to apply for accreditation with respect to any sector(s) in the construction industry in any geographic area(s) defined under the Labour Relations Act or determined by this Board. The applicant's status or entitlement to bring this application has not been challenged. On the basis of the evidence before it, the Board finds the applicant to be an employers' organization within the meaning of sections l(1)(j) and 117(d) of the Labour Relations Act, and further, that it is a properly constituted organization for purposes of section 127(3) of the Act.
The respondent is a trade union within the meaning of sections l(l)(p) and 117(f) of the Labour Relations Act.
The applicant and respondent negotiated that part of a collective agreement between the Electrical Trade Bargaining Agency of the Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the IBEW Construction Council of Ontario which relates to the geographic area and sector which are the subject of this application. This collective agreement was binding upon the members of the applicant and on the respondent and was in effect on April 29, 1988, which is the date this application was made. The applicant and respondent subsequently negotiated and are parties to a collective agreement effective from May 25, 1988 to June 30, 1990. This collective agreement covers a number of employers in the residential sector of the construction industry in the geographic area to which this application relates.
Having regard to the material before it, the Board finds that it has jurisdiction, under section 125 of the Act, to entertain this application.
The applicant filed evidence of representation on behalf of 52 employers. This evidence is in the form of 52 individual documents, each entitled "Authorization". These are all in a standard form and each authorizes the applicant to represent the employer signing it as its bargaining agent and to bargain on its behalf with the respondent for a collective agreement pertaining to and covering the residential sector, or part thereof, of the construction industry. Each authorization also authorizes the applicant to apply for accreditation, under section 125 of the Labour Relations Act, "for the residential sector of the construction industry or such part thereof and in such geographic area or areas as the [applicant] shall deem appropriate". The applicant also filed a duly completed Form 88, Declaration Concerning Representation Documents which attests to the regularity and sufficiency of its documentary evidence of representation. The Board is satisfied that the applicant's evidence of representation complies with the requirements of sections 108 and 120 of the Board's Rules of Procedure. The Board is also satisfied that each of the individual employers on behalf of whom the applicant has submitted representation evidence has vested appropriate authority in the applicant to enable it to discharge the responsibilities of an accredited bargaining agent.
Having regard to the material before the Board, to the fact that the County of Carleton has been subsumed within the Regional Municipality of Ottawa Carleton as a result of the Muntcipal reorganization that led to the establishment of that Regional Municipality (see, Walls and Ceilings Contractors Association of Ottawa - Association Des Constructeurs De Murs Et Plafonds D'Ottawa, [1987] OLRB Rep. Jan. 174), the Board's decision in Electrical Contractors Association, Quinte - St. Lawrence, (Board File No. 0701-75-R, Jan. 28, 1976, unreported), and the agreement of the parties, the Board finds that all employers of journeymen electricians and apprentices for whom the respondent has bargaining rights in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa- Carleton, and the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, and the County of Lanark, in the residential sector of the construction industry, constitutes a unit of employers appropriate for collective bargaining.
In accordance with the Board's Rules of Procedure, notice of this application was sent to eighty-eight separate employers. Of these, two were returned as undelivered. These two and twenty-five other employers failed to make the requisite filings in Form 94 and Schedule H. On the basis of the information provided by the applicant and respondent, the Board is satisfied that the respondent has bargaining rights for all employees of all twenty-seven of these employers who are employed in the residential sector of the construction industry in the geographic area to which this application relates.
Only one of the employers served, Johnson Controls Ltd., indicated any opposition to the application, either in its filing or otherwise. At the hearing, Johnson Controls Ltd. did not oppose the application generally, or the ability of the applicant to make it. However, it did assert that the respondent does not hold bargaining rights for journeymen or apprentice electricians employed by it in the residential sector of the construction industry in the geographic area to which the application relates (the "bargaining rights issue"). The applicant, the respondent and Johnson Controls Ltd. all agreed that the latter had no employees affected by this application at any time in the year preceding the date on which this application was made. Accordingly, the presence or absence of Johnson Controls Ltd. could have no effect on the outcome of this proceeding. The applicant, the respondent and Johnson Controls Ltd. all agreed to hold the bargaining rights issue in abeyance and omit Johnson Controls Ltd. from any of the lists of employers for the application, without prejudice to the right of any of them to take whatever position they choose with respect to the bargaining rights issue in any future discussions or proceedings in which it arises.
On the basis of all the material and information before the Board, and having regard to the agreements between, and representations of, the parties, the Board has compiled the following lists of employers. The employers listed on final Schedule E are those who had employees affected by the application during the one year period preceding the date of application. The employers listed on final Schedule F had no such employees.
Final Schedule E
Ambor Electric Ltd.
Am-Tech Electrical Services Ltd.
A.M.S. Electric
Betron Electric Ltd.
Bisson Electric Ltd.
Black & McDonald Limited
Geo. Bolton (1983) Limited
George Bowie Electrical Ltd.
Broder Electric Ltd.
Campbell and Kennedy Electric Limited
Carling Electric Inc.
Earl Carr Electric Ltd.
Continental Electric Contractors Co. a Div. of Gramling Electric Ltd.
R. Diotte Electric Ltd.
Edison - Div. R. E. Ferguson Ltd.
Farley Electric Ltd.
Federal Electric (1976) Limited
J. W. Fraser Electric Inc.
Glebe Electric Ltd.
Glen-Mur Ltd. (also operating as G. M. Electric, 764651 Ontario Limited)
Hancock Electric Inc.
Heritage Ottawa Electrical Contractors Ltd.
D. E. Jackson Limited
Kroon Enterprises Limited
Lamarche Electrique Inc.
L. A. Legault Electric Limited
Blythe C. MeCleary Limited
Newell Electric Inc.
Ottawa Valley Electric Inc.
Phil's Electric Limited
R. J. Electric
A. G. Reed Ltd.
Salter & Reid Electric Ltd.
Bob Stone Ottawa Limited
Tucker Electric Ltd.
Matt Anthony Electric Co. Ltd.
Bellefeuille Electric Ltd.
Roma Electric Ltd.
T. & M. Electric Limited
Final Schedule F
BG Checo International Ltd./BGE Div.
Brycor Limited
Comstock Canada
Denitron Electric Ltd.
E.N.H. Electric Ltd.
Emond Electric & Sons Reg.
Guild Electric Limited
MacFarlane Electric Ltd.
McCauley Electric Ltd.
Mieske's Capital Electric Limited
Net Electric Limited
Carl Saunders Electrical Ltd.
E. H. Scarabelli (1975) Inc.
Dieter Theile Electrical Contractors Limited
Univex (Canada) Ltd.
Wellington Electric (of Ottawa) Limited
Paul Ziebarth Electrical Contractors Ltd.
Ainsworth Electric Co. Ltd.
Bradmoore Electric Co. Ltd.
C. & M. Electric Ltd.
Charmau Electrical Enterprises Ltd.
Commonwealth Construction Co.
D. B. L. Electric Ltd.
Dent Enterprise
Electro Systems
Win. Duffy Electrical Contractors Limited
Faktor Electrical Services Ltd.
R. W. Faulkner Electric Ltd.
G. P. Electrical Cont. Ltd.
Goldstein Bros. (1974) Ltd.
Honeywell Limited
K. B. Electric Ltd.
Laurier Electric Ltd.
Leslie & Palmer Co. Ltd.
Marois Electric Ltd.
McEwen Powerline Const. Ltd.
Mosler Canada Inc.
Ontario Electrical Construction Limited
P. T. Industrial Electric
Read Electric Inc.
Regional Electric Ltd.
Renovatek Electric Ltd.
Respect Electric Inc.
Donald Servant Electric Ltd.
Tam-Mor Electrical Ltd.
Vanier Electric Limited
Willy's Electric Ltd.
R. J. M. Electric Ltd.
On the basis of the material before it, and pursuant to the provisions of section 127(1)(a) of the Act, the Board finds that the 39 employers on Final Schedule E are the employers in the unit of employers on the date of the making of the application who have within one year prior to such date had employees for whom the respondent had bargaining rights in the residential sector in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, and the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, and the County of Lanark, the sector and geographic area that the Board has determined to be appropriate.
The Board has also ascertained, pursuant to section 127(1)(b) of the Act, that the applicant represented 35 of the employers on Final Schedule E on the date of the making of this application. The Board is therefor satisfied that the majority of the employers in the unit of employers are represented by the applicant for purposes of this application. In addition, section 127(2)(c) of the Act requires that the Board be satisfied that the employers represented by the applicant employ the majority of the employees ascertained by the Board. Pursuant to section 127(1)(c), the relevant payroll period is the weekly payroll period immediately preceding the making of the application. The Board is satisfied that such a payroll period, in this case the weekly payroll period immediately preceding April 29, 1988, is a satisfactory period for making such a determination.
On the basis of the material before it, and pursuant to section 127(1 )(c) of the Act, the Board finds that there were 212 employees affected by this application during the weekly payroll period immediately preceding the date of application. The Board further finds that the 35 employers represented by the applicant employed 197 of those employees. The Board is therefore satisfied that the majority of employers represented by the applicant employ the majority of the employees ascertained pursuant to section 127(1)(c) of the Act.
Having regard to all the foregoing, and in accordance with the provisions of section
127(2) of the Act, a certificate of accreditation will issue to the applicant for the unit of employers which has been found by the Board to be appropriate; that is, all employers of journeymen electricians and apprentices for whom the respondent has bargaining rights in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa- Carleton, and the United Counties of Prescott and Russell. and the County of Lanark, in the residential sector of the construction industry, and for such other employers for whose employees the respondent trade union may after the date hereof obtain bargaining rights through certification or voluntary recognition in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa- Carleton, and the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, and the County of Lanark, in the residential sector of the construction industry.