Ontario Labour Relations Board
2212-00-R United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 1669, Applicant v. 1401220 Ontario Ltd., Responding Party.
BEFORE: Harry Freedman, Vice‑Chair, and Board Members G. Pickell and A. Haward.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; November 1, 2000
1This is an application for certification filed under the construction industry provisions of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, S.O. 1995, c.1 as amended (the "Act"). This application was filed on October 27, 2000.
2The Board finds that the applicant is a trade union within the meaning of sections 1(1) and 126 of the Act and is an affiliated bargaining agent of a designated employee bargaining agency. Pursuant to the designation issued by the Minister under section 153(1) of the Act on June 23, 1997, the designated employee bargaining agency is the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
3The responding party was duly served with the application on October 27, 2000, according to the Certificate of Delivery filed by the applicant and filed its response with the Board within the time stipulated by Rule 135 of the Board's Rules of Procedure.
4The Board is satisfied on an examination of only the information provided in the application and the information and membership evidence filed by the applicant (see section 8(3) of the Act), that not less than forty per cent of the individuals in the bargaining unit proposed in the application for certification appear to be members of the applicant at the time the application was made.
5The Board finds that this is an application for certification within the meaning of section 128 of the Act and is an application made pursuant to section 158(1) of the Act which provides that:
An application for certification as bargaining agent which relates to the industrial, commercial and institutional sector of the construction industry referred to in the definition of "sector" in section 126 shall be brought by either,
(a) an employee bargaining agency; or
(b) one or more affiliated bargaining agents of the employee bargaining agency,
on behalf of all affiliated bargaining agents of the employee bargaining agency and the unit of employees shall include all employees who would be bound by a provincial agreement together with all other employees in at least one appropriate geographic area unless bargaining rights for such geographic area have already been acquired under subsection (2) or by voluntary recognition.
6The applicant submitted that the appropriate bargaining unit include, in addition to the industrial, commercial and institutional sector of the construction industry in the province of Ontario, Board geographic areas 22, 23, and 24 in all sectors of the construction industry excluding the industrial, commercial and institutional sector. The applicant identified only one job site (Beaver Brae Secondary School, 1400 9^th^ St. North, Kenora) located in Board Area 24 where employees of the respondent were working on the application date. The applicant did not suggest that the responding party was working in Board Areas 22 or 23 on the date of application.
7The responding party in its response alleged that it had employees working at the school in Kenora and in Fort Severn. The responding party does not provide particulars of the construction project on which its employees were working in Fort Severn. Since Fort Severn is in Board Area 24, the responding party’s employees who were performing the carpentry work on the application date would come within the bargaining unit proposed by the applicant regardless of the nature of the construction project being undertaken in Fort Severn.
8An application for certification which relates to the industrial, commercial and institutional sector of the construction industry must include “at least one appropriate geographic area”. The Board in E/E Fradema Masonry, [1986] OLRB Rep. Dec. 1685 stated at paragraph 7:
In our opinion, an appropriate geographic area means, at the very least, an area in which employees were employed as of the application date. It seems to us that a geographic area in which no employees were employed as of the application date is not an appropriate geographic area….”
See also Freure Construction Limited, [1991] OLRB Rep. March 309 at paragraphs 14-17 where the Board adopted and applied that earlier decision. As the applicant did not allege that the responding party had any employees at work on the application date in any Board Area other than Board Area 24, the only appropriate geographic area is Board Area 24.
9The responding party asserted that appropriate geographic area be limited to the city limits of the City of Kenora and the town limits of the settlement of Fort Severn. In our view, section 158 of the Act provides the complete answer to the responding party’s submission. The Act provides a statutory geographic dimension to a bargaining unit description in certification applications relating to the industrial, commercial and institutional sector of the construction industry.
10The Board further finds, pursuant to section 158(1) of the Act, that all carpenters and carpenters’ apprentices in the employ of the responding party in the industrial, commercial and institutional sector of the construction industry in the Province of Ontario and all carpenters and carpenters’ apprentices in the employ of the responding party in all other sectors of the construction industry in the District of Kenora including the Patricia portion, save and except non-working foremen and persons above the rank of non‑working foreman, constitute a unit of employees of the responding party appropriate for collective bargaining.
11Having regard to the Board's finding as to the appropriate bargaining unit, the Board directs that a representation vote be taken of the individuals in the following voting constituency:
all carpenters and carpenters’ apprentices in the employ of 1401220 Ontario Ltd. in the industrial, commercial and institutional sector of the construction industry in the Province of Ontario and all carpenters and carpenters’ apprentices in the employ of 1401220 Ontario Ltd. in all other sectors of the construction industry in the District of Kenora including the Patricia portion, save and except non-working foremen and persons above the rank of non‑working foreman.
12The vote will be held on a date or dates to be determined by the Manager of Field Services. The Board will notify the parties once the appropriate vote arrangements are made.
13The responding party is directed to post copies of the application for certification, the “Notice to Employees of Application for Certification”, and this decision in a location or locations where they are most likely to come to the attention of those individuals who are eligible to vote.
14All individuals who were employed by 1401220 Ontario Ltd. and at work in the voting constituency on October 27, 2000 are eligible to vote.
15Voters will be asked to indicate whether or not they wish to be represented by the applicant in their employment relations with the responding party.
16Any party or person who wishes to make representations to the Board about any issue relating to the application for certification which remains in dispute, other than status disputes, must file a detailed statement of representations and all material facts upon which they rely with the Board and deliver it to the other parties, so that it is received within five days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays on which the Board is closed) of the last date on which the vote is taken. Representations with respect to any status dispute must be made in accordance with the directions provided in Information Bulletin No. 9: Status Disputes in Certification Applications in the Construction Industry.
17This matter is referred to the Registrar.
“Harry Freedman”
for the Board