3697-99-U Humberto Ampuero, Applicant v. United Steelworkers of America, Responding Party v. Alcan Foil Products, Intervenor.
BEFORE: Brian McLean, Vice-Chair.
APPEARANCES: Humberto Ampuero, Rosalia Dzunja and Elizabeth Kennedy for the applicant; Robert Champagne, Mohammed Baksh and Courtney Joseph for the responding party; Robert A. MacPherson and Elaine Marek for the intervenor.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; September 5, 2000
A consultation was held in this matter on August 30, 2000.
At the consultation the Board dismissed the application for the following reasons, which were given orally:
I have carefully considered all of what the parties have told me today.
The union and the employer assert that this application must be dismissed because there are no facts set out in the application at all, let alone any that could constitute a violation of the Act.
In point of fact, the application alleges no facts at all. It simply advises that witnesses and documentation will be provided later. Moreover, while there are a number of documents attached to the application, it is not at all clear from these documents what this complaint is about.
The Board’s Rules and the application form itself require that an applicant set out all of the facts on which he relies. This is a matter of simple natural justice. The union and the employer are entitled to know the case they have to meet. In this application, it is impossible for them or the Board to know what the applicant’s complaint is.
I have considered the applicant’s explanation for his failure to comply. It is not acceptable. The fact is that every day this Board receives applications from people who are not represented by lawyers. They are quite capable of writing down what they feel the union has done wrong. As this Board has said on many occasions, ignorance of the law and the Board’s procedure is no excuse.
I would also say this. I have looked carefully at the documents filed with the complaint. Nothing in them suggests to me that the union’s representation of the applicant was in any way a violation of the Act.
“Brian McLean”
for the Board