United Steelworkers of America v. Homecare Comfort Services Inc.
File No.: 1897-00-R Date: November 7, 2000
United Steelworkers of America, Applicant v. Homecare Comfort Services Inc., Responding Party.
Before: Bram Herlich, Vice-Chair, and Board Members J. A. Rundle and H. Peacock.
Decision of the Board
1This is an application for certification in which a representation vote was held on October 4, 2000.
2The parties have recently agreed on the appropriate bargaining unit description. Having regard to that agreement, the Board finds that:
all employees of Homecare Comfort Services Inc. in the City of Sault Ste. Marie, save and except supervisors and persons above the rank of supervisor,
constitute a unit of employees of the responding party appropriate for collective bargaining.
3Prior to this recent agreement, the employer had been proposing that registered nurses be excluded from the bargaining unit. Although it no longer asserts that position, the responding party remains of the view that registered nurses, by virtue of section 1(3)(b) are not employees within the meaning of the Act. Accordingly, it appears that the parties expect the Board to convene a hearing to determine the status of registered nurses employed by the employer.
4The Board is frequently called upon to determine such status issues in the context of a certification application. Such a determination may be relevant to the determination of the bargaining unit or the eligibility of individuals to participate in the representation vote.
5In the present case, however, the parties have agreed on the bargaining unit description and the status of registered nurses can have no impact on the disposition of this application in view of the margin of the vote in favour of the union.
6In other words it is not necessary for the Board to determine the outstanding status issue in order to dispose of this application.
7In view of the results of the representation vote, a certificate will issue to the applicant in respect of the bargaining unit set out above.
8The Board recognizes that, while there are no outstanding issues which need to be determined in order to dispose of this application, the question of the status of registered nurses remains an issue between the parties.
9The Board is hopeful that the parties will be able to resolve that issue in their future negotiations. Should they be unable to do so they, or either one of them, may bring the appropriate application to the Board.
10The Registrar will destroy the ballots cast in the representation vote taken in this matter following the expiration of 30 days from the date of this decision unless a statement requesting that the ballots should not be destroyed is received by the Board from one of the parties before the expiration of such 30 day period.
11The hearing scheduled for November 20 and 21, 2000 is hereby cancelled.
12The responding party is directed to post copies of this decision immediately, adjacent to all copies of the "Notice of Vote and of Hearing" posted previously. These copies must remain posted until the date that had been set for the hearing.
"Bram Herlich"
for the Board