Grey Bruce Health Services v. Ontario Nurses' Association, 1999 CanLII 19959

[1999] OLRB REP. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 57

2380-98-PS Grey Bruce Health Services, Applicant v. Ontario Nurses' Association, Service Employees International Union, Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 48, Responding Parties

Bargaining Unit - Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act - Parties disputing number and description of bargaining units appropriate for successor hospital's operations -Employer asserting that there should be only two bargaining units: a bargaining unit for employ­ees providing direct patient care in a nursing, diagnostic or technical capacity and a second unit of clerical and service employees - Board finding four bargaining units appropriate: a registered nurses unit, a paramedical unit, a service unit and an office and clerical unit

BEFORE: Janice Johnston, Vice-Chair.

APPEARANCES: Robert Hickman, Jennifer Kierinkiewicz and Rob Croft for the applicant; Gail Sax,Marg Ducie and Pauline Lefebvre-Hinton for Ontario Nurses' Association; David Wright, Connie Huziak, Terry Moore and Ed Ogibowski for Ontario Public Service Employees' Union; B. Sheehan, D. Broadbent, D. Barber, K. Morrison and S. Giegoy for Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 48; Brendan Morgan and Don Fontain for Service Employees' International Union.

DECISION OF THE BOARD; February 26, 1999

1. This is an application under sections 22 and 23 of the Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act, 1997 ("Bill 136" or "the Act").

2. The Board conducted a consultation with respect to this application on February 25, 1999. Given the urgent nature of this Public Sector bargaining unit dispute the Board considers it appropriate to issue a decision with abbreviated reasons.

3. In 1998, five hospitals, Meaford General Hospital in Meaford, Saugeen Memorial Hospital in South Hampton, Grey Bruce Regional Health Centre in Owen Sound, Centre Grey Hospital in Markdale and Bruce Peninsula Health Services in Wiarton, Lion's Head and Tobermory in the Counties of Grey and Bruce voluntarily amalgamated into Grey Bruce Health Services (the "company" or the "employer"). The new hospital corporation provides patient care across seven sites with approximately 1,660 employees across the sites. At the time of the application there were four bargaining agents and 20 bargaining units with 14 collective agreements. The bargaining unit configuration which existed in the five hospitals prior to the amalgamation were as follows:

Grey Bruce Health Centre

(a) Registered and Graduate Nurses Bargaining Unit (ONA)

(b) Full-Time Paramedical Employees Bargaining Unit

(OPSEU)

(c) Full-Time Service Employees Unit (including the RPN's)

(CUPE)

Part-Time Service Employees Unit (including the RPN's)

(OPSEU)

(d) Full-Time clerical Employees Unit (OPSEU)

Part-Time clerical Employees Unit (OPSEU)

Bruce Peninsula Health Services

(a) Registered and Graduate Nurses Bargaining Unit (ONA)

(b) Full-Time Service Employees Unit (including the RPN's)

(OPSEU)

Part-Time Service Employees Unit (including the RPN's)

(OPSEU)

(c) Clerical Employees Unit (OPSEU

Centre Grey Hospital

(a) Registered Nurses' Bargaining Unit (ONA)

(b) Full-Time Service Employees Unit (including the RPN's)

(SEIU)

Part-Time Service Employees Unit (including the RPN's)

(SEIU)

Meaford General Hospital

(a) Full-time Registered Nurses' Bargaining Unit (ONA)

Part-Time Registered Nurses' Bargaining Unit (ONA)

(b) Full-Time Service Employees Unit ((including the RPN's)

(SEIU)

Part-Time Service Employees Unit (including the RPN's)

(SEIU)

Saugeen Memorial Hospital

(a) Registered Nurses' Bargaining unit (ONA)

(b) Service Employees Unit (SEIU)

(c) Office and Clerical Employees Unit (SEIU)

4. The parties were unable to agree upon the appropriate bargaining unit structure to be put in place at the newly created entity. Accordingly, the issue put before the Board at this stage in the proceedings concerned the description of the appropriate bargaining unit structure.

5. The employer took the position that there should be only two bargaining units, one for employees currently providing direct patient care in a nursing, diagnostic or technical capacity and a second unit which would consist of all clerical and service employees who were involved in providing a support function in a non-patient care capacity. The Canadian Union of Public Employees ("CUPE") and The Service Employees International Union ("SEIU") took the position that the Board should order

a bargaining unit structure which consisted of four bargaining units. These bargaining units would be:

(a) Registered and Graduate Nurses

(b) Paramedical Employees

(c) Office and clerical Employees

(d) Service Employees

6. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union ("OPSEU") took the position that the appro­priate bargaining unit structure should consist of three bargaining units as follows:

(a) Registered and Graduate Nurses

(b) Paramedical Employees

(c) Office and Clerical and Service Employees

7. The Ontario Nurses Association ("ONA") took no position with respect to the appropriate bargaining unit structure for the other unions but maintained that there should be a separate bargaining unit for nurses.

8. At the consultation the Board dealt first with the bargaining unit structure proposed by the employer. After providing the parties with an opportunity to make submissions the following brief oral ruling was given:

Oral Ruling

After having considered the submissions of the parties I am not prepared to endorse the employer's proposed bargaining unit structure.

While the proposal does have some merit, it reflects a radical departure from the current bargaining unit structure in the hospital sector in Ontario.

Given the upheaval and uncertainty engendered by the current hospital restructuring that is taking place in the province, which is no doubt reflected in the restructuring which has taken place in the case we are dealing with to-day, I agree with the position taken by the various trade unions that this is not a time to put in place a novel bargaining unit structure that has not previously been tested.

9. The Board next dealt with the two alternative bargaining unit structures which had been proposed by the trade unions. In its submissions, the employer indicated that it agreed with the position being taken by CUPE and SEIU that a four bargaining unit model was the more appropriate choice in this case. After considering the submissions of the parties the following brief oral ruling was given:

Oral Ruling

Based on the agreement of the parties I find that a separate registered nurses only unit and a paramedical unit are appropriate.

In addition, after considering the submissions of the parties I have concluded that it is appropriate to maintain the exiting bargaining unit structure and have a further two bargaining units, one consisting of the service employees and one consisting of the office and clerical employees. I therefore decline to order the bargaining unit structure proposed by OPSEU.

10. In coming to the conclusion that it was appropriate to maintain the existing bargaining unit structure which consists of four bargaining units, I took into consideration several factors. First of all the four bargaining unit structure reflects the current structure in existence at the various hospitals. Secondly, the structure that was being proposed by OPSEU although clearly an acceptable alternative, did not currently exist at any of the existing sites, and was not supported by any of the other parties.

11. OPSEU argued that the three bargaining unit structure it was proposing was not a radical departure from the bargaining unit structure commonly found in the hospital sector. In support of combining the office and clerical and service units, counsel for OPSEU pointed out that such a combined unit would provide for greater mobility for the employees in the new unit. In counsel's view, outmoded concepts concerning the lack of community of interest between employees in a service unit and employees in an office and clerical unit were no longer relevant in todays workplace.

12. I have no difficulty agreeing with counsel for OPSEU that in principle the bargaining unit structure which it proposed makes labour relations sense. However, the difficulty in this case was that the bargaining unit configuration proposed by OPSEU did not currently exist at any of the sites and was not supported by any other party. Therefore in these circumstances, and given the upheaval and uncertainty present currently in the hospital sector, it is not necessary in this case to potentially further complicate matters by putting employees together who have not previously bargained together.

13. After the Board gave the two brief oral rulings referred to above, the parties with the assistance of a Labour Relations Officer were able to agree to the following Minutes of Settlement:

Board File # 2380-98-PS

BETWEEN: Grey Bruce Health Services

AND

CURE.

ONA

OPSEU

SEIU

The parties agree that in the four bargaining units found to he appropriate by the Board that:

1. Bargaining Unit #1 (Nurses)

all registered and graduate nurses employed in a nursing capacity by Grey Bruce Health Services, save and except head nurses and persons above the rank of head nurse.

The Board shall declare ONA to be the bargaining agent in bargaining unit #1.

2. Bargaining Unit #2 (Paramedical)

all paramedical employees of Grey Bruce Health Services, save and except managers, and persons above the rank of manager.

(There is a dispute between the parties as to whether co-ordinator - clinical nutrition is included.)

There shall be a vote in this unit with OPSEU and no union on the ballot.

3. Bargaining Unit #3 (Service)

all employees of Grey Bruce Health Services, save and except supervisors, persons above the rank of supervisor, professional medical staff, registered and graduate nurses, and office and clerical employees.

There shall be a vote in this unit with CUPE, OPSEU, SEIU, on the ballot.

4. Bargaining Unit #4

all office and clerical employees of Grey Bruce Health Services, save and except supervisors, persons above the rank of supervisors and persons employed in a confiden­tial capacity with respect to labour relations.

There shall be a vote in this unit with OPSEU and SEIU on the ballot.

5. The vote arrangements shall be as in the attached vote arrangement sheets.

DATED AT TORONTO this 25th day of February, 1999

"J. Kierinkiewicz" "Marg Ducie" Grey Bruce ONA "Connie Huziak" "Brendan Morgan" OPSEU SEIU "Brian Sheehan" CUPE