Ontario Labour Relations Board
2312-01-R Brick and Allied Craft Union of Canada, Local 31, Applicant v. G.M. Tile Ltd., Responding Party.
BEFORE: John Morgan Lewis, Vice‑Chair.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; November 21, 2001
1This is an application for certification filed under the construction industry provisions of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (the "Act").
2The Registrar has certified that the applicant had been found to be a trade union in an earlier proceeding under the Act. Therefore, having regard to the Registrar’s certificate and section 113 of the Act, the Board finds that the applicant is a trade union within the meaning of sections 1(1) and 126 of Act.
3The responding party filed a timely response in which it gives notice under section 8.1 of the Act and requests that the ballots cast in the representation vote should not be counted. The responding party disagrees with the applicants estimate on the number of employees whom were at work on the application date. The respond party further disagrees with the description of the applicant’s proposed bargaining unit.
4It appears to the Board 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 were members of the union 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. The application purports to be 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 responding party asserts that the applicant is not an affiliated bargaining agent nor an employee bargaining agency and as such is not entitled to a province wide bargaining unit of bricklayers in the ICI sector as section 158(1) does not apply. The Board directs the parties’ attention to the decision of Vice-Chair McKee in Brick and Allied Craft Union of Canada, [2001] OLRB Rep. May/June 615 which would appear to confirm the position taken by the responding party in this matter.
7The Board declines to make any determination as to the appropriate bargaining unit at this time.
8Having regard to its normal practice, the Board directs a representation vote be taken of the individuals in the largest possible voting constituency described as follows:
all unrepresented trades in the employ of G.M. Tile Ltd. in all sectors of the construction industry in the City of Toronto, the Regional Municipalities of Peel and York, the Towns of Oakville and Halton Hills and that portion of the Town of Milton within the geographic Townships of Esquesing and Trafalgar, and the Towns of Ajax and Pickering in the Regional Municipality of Durham, save and except non-working foremen and persons above the rank of non‑working foreman.
9The vote will be held on November 23, 2001. Vote arrangements are set out on the attached "Notice of Vote and of Meeting".
10The responding party is directed to post copies of the application for certification, the “Notice to Employees of Application for Certification”, this decision and the "Notice of Vote and of Meeting" in a location or locations where they are most likely to come to the attention of those individuals who are eligible to vote.
11All individuals who were employed by G.M. Tile Ltd. and at work in the voting constituency on November 16, 2001 are eligible to vote.
12Voters will be asked to indicate whether or not they wish to be represented by the applicant in their employment relations with the responding party.
13In light of the issues raised by the responding party, the Board directs that the ballots cast in the representation vote shall be individually segregated and the ballot box shall be sealed unless the parties otherwise agree or the Board otherwise orders.
14Any 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 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.
15This matter is referred to the Registrar.
“John Morgan Lewis”
for the Board