3051-95-R The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 353, Applicant v. Volta Electrical Contractors Ltd. and Westbridge Electric Contractors Ltd. and 1086289 Ontario Inc. c.o.b. as Urban Electrical Contractors, Responding Parties v. Danny Ajamian, Intervenor.
BEFORE: D. L. Gee, Vice-Chair.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; September 15, 2000
On September 12, 2000, a hearing was held in order to hear a request by 1086289 Ontario Inc. c.o.b. as Urban Electrical Contractors (“Urban”) that the Board reconsider its decision of July 19, 1999 in which the Board declared, amongst other things, that Urban was bound to the Provincial ICI Collective Agreement between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the IBEW Construction Council of Ontario and the Electrical Trade Bargaining Agency of the Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario.
Following such hearing, a review was conducted of Board File No. 1356-97-R, an application for certification that was filed by the International Union of Electrical Workers, Local 353 (the “union”) with respect to electrical employees of Urban. In such file was a letter dated September 1, 1999 from Danny Ajamian, an employee of Urban, signed by a number of other employees of Urban, indicating that they disagreed with a recent decision of the Board saying the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has the right to represent employees working at Urban. The letter indicates that the employees want to challenge the decision and seek instructions from the Board as to how to do so.
The decision to which the employees were referring can only be the Board’s decision of July 19, 1999 in Board File No. 3051-95-R as the Board’s decision in Board File No. 1356-97-R had not yet issued. In the normal course, upon receipt of such a letter, the Board would have sent out the forms necessary to file a Request for Reconsideration. Instead, the letter was returned to Mr. Ajamian with a letter from a Board Solicitor indicating that the union had lost the vote in the certification application and thus he did not understand the context for the correspondence.
The employees of Urban were provided with notice of both Board File No. 3051-95-R (the sale of a business and related employer application) as well as Board File No. 1356-97-R (the certification application) and invited to inform the Board of their desire to make submissions or participate in any hearings held. In addition, the employees received notice of the results of the vote held in respect of the certification application and were invited to make submissions to the Board. No submissions were received from any of the employees in response to such postings. No employees attended at the Board hearings conducted in relation to either matter. Thus, the employees’ concerns which they seek to raise must arise out of events post-dating the release of the vote results.
The employer has filed comprehensive submissions with the Board and made fully reasoned oral argument before the Board setting out its reasons for requesting reconsideration of the Board’s decision of July 19, 1999. The employer seeks reconsideration on a number of grounds including the fact that the union lost the certification vote and the effect of the July 19, 1999 decision is to force a union on employees who do not want it and could result in employees being forced to join a union they do not want or result in their losing their jobs to union members.
In the event that there are any submissions that Mr. Ajamian wishes to make to the Board, he is hereby directed to deliver such submissions to the union and Urban care of their lawyers, at the addresses indicated below, and file such with the Board, no later than September 26, 2000. Should the union and Urban wish to make submissions to the Board in response to any submissions filed by Mr. Ajamian, such submissions must be delivered to Mr. Ajamian at 18 Peninsula Ct., Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4S 1T9, and filed with the Board, no later than October 2, 2000. In the event that Mr. Ajamian wishes to make submissions to the Board in response to any submissions filed by Urban or the union, such submissions must be delivered to Urban and the union, and filed with the Board, no later than October 6, 2000.
Deliveries intended for the union are to be made to:
Craig Flood
Koskie Minsky
20 Queen Street West
Suite 900, Box 52
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 3R3
Deliveries intended for Urban are to be made to:
Philip J. Wolfenden
Fasken Martineau Dumoulin Llp
Toronto Dominion Bank Tower, Box 20
Suite 4200, Toronto-Dominion Centre
Toronto, Ontario
M5K 1N6
“D. L. Gee”
for the Board