Ontario Labour Relations Board
File No.: 0053-00-PS Date: April 19, 2001
Between: Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation, Applicant v. Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 794; Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 839; International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 772; Ontario Nurses’ Association, Local 70; Ontario Nurses’ Association, Local 235; Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Local 206 and Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Local 273, Responding Parties.
Before: M. A. Nairn, Vice-Chair.
Decision of the Board
1The Board is in receipt of a petition signed by a number of Pharmacy Technicians employed at the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation. These particular individuals were not, historically, unionized. As a result of the merger of the hospitals and the application of the Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act, 1997 (the “PSLRTA"), these individuals now find themselves included in a bargaining unit described in previous Board decisions in this matter as the “office and service” bargaining unit. These Pharmacy Technicians assert that they wish to be included in the “technical” bargaining unit rather than the “office and service” group. They note that Pharmacy Technicians at other institutions in the province have been placed in similar “technical” bargaining units
2The descriptions of the bargaining units were determined by a decision dated January 30, 2001. At paragraph 6 of that decision, I deal with the position of the Pharmacy Technician as follows:
- I rejected the HHSC’s position that the Pharmacy Technician be included in this bargaining unit. Historically that position has fallen within the “office and service” unit and, to the extent that one can measure community of interest, that position has at least, if not more community of interest with other positions in the “office and service” unit. I also note that historically there has been no standard “paramedical” bargaining unit in any of the pre-merger institutions and that, post-merger, those employees remain unrepresented for the most part. Because of historical anomalies, “technical” positions within the departments described will continue to be represented by a bargaining agent and some positions outside these departments which might usually be seen in a “paramedical” unit fall within the “office and service” unit in this case.
3To the extent that Pharmacy Technicians were historically unionized at any of these pre-merger institutions, they were represented in the “office and service” bargaining unit. There was no compelling reason to depart from that history. Nor has any been advanced in this recent request. I recognize that not all individuals will be satisfied with the various balances struck. However, even assuming that these individuals have standing to raise this matter at this stage, there is nothing in the request that warrants reconsideration of the decision dated January 30, 2001. The request is hereby dismissed.
“M. A. Nairn” for the Board