Ontario Public Service Employees Union v. The County of Oxford, 2001 CanLII 18236

2500-01-R Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Applicant v. The County of Oxford and National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada (CAW-Canada), Local 302, Responding Parties.

BEFORE: Christopher J. Albertyn, Vice-Chair, and Board Members J. A. Ronson and H. Peacock.

DECISION OF THE BOARD; December 19, 2001

1. This is an application filed under section 69 and 1(4) of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, S.O. 1995, c. 1, as amended ("the Act").

2. The parties have reached agreement on all aspects of the application. Their Memorandum of Agreement reads:

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT

BETWEEN:

THE COUNTY OF OXFORD

(“the County”)

-and-

ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION

(“OPSEU”)

-and-

CANADIAN AUTOMOTIVE AEROSPACE AND GENERAL WORKERS UNION LOCAL 302

(“the CAW”)

WHEREAS the County has decided to assume the direct operation of ambulance services within the geographic area of the County effective on January 1, 2002;

AND WHEREAS ambulance services within the geographic area of the County are currently provided by Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital (“Tillsonburg”) and Woodstock Ambulance Limited (“Woodstock”);

AND WHEREAS paramedics employed by Tillsonburg are currently represented by the CAW and paramedics employed by Woodstock are currently represented by OPSEU;

AND WHEREAS all parties desire a smooth transition of ambulance services with the minimum possible disruption of employment;

NOW THEREFORE the parties agree to the following terms and conditions:

1. The parties agree that the transfer of operation of ambulance services from Tillsonburg and Woodstock to the County constitutes the sale of a business within the meaning of section 69 of the Ontario Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“the LRA”);

2. The County agrees to make offers of employment of all regularly scheduled and qualified (as per the Ambulance Act) paramedics who are employed by Tillsonburg and Woodstock as of the date of this Agreement and immediately prior to the date of the County’s assumption of ambulance services. A list of the employees to whom offers of employment have and will be made is attached as Schedule B [not included];

3. The parties agree that there will be an intermingling of employees within the meaning of section 69(6) of the LRA;

4. The parties agree that a single stand-alone paramedic bargaining unit is appropriate for the ambulance operations of the County;

5. The parties agree that the appropriate description of the bargaining unit is:

“All paramedics/EMA’s employed by the County of Oxford save and except Field Supervisors and persons above the rank of Field Supervisor.”

6. The parties agree that there will be a representation vote between the CAW and OPSEU to determine the bargaining agent for the bargaining unit described in paragraph 5;

7. The parties agree that the voter’s list for the representation vote shall be those employees on Schedule B who accept the offers of employment from the County and are employed by the County as of the date of the vote and any additional paramedics who accept offers of employment and actually commence work with the County and are employed by the County on the date of the vote;

8. The CAW and OPSEU agree that the union which is successful on the representation vote shall become the bargaining agent for all employees within this bargaining unit and that the bargaining rights of the union which is unsuccessful on the representation vote shall be terminated;

9. The parties agree that OPSEU will make an Application to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (“OLRB”) under section 69 of the LRA. A draft copy of the Application has been presented to the County and CAW which both agree that they will support the Application in all respects subject to the terms of this Memorandum;

10. The parties will jointly request that the representation vote be held on January 9, 2002 with an alternate date of January 10, 2002 with the voting arrangements as follows:

Poll #1 – Ingersoll Ambulance station, Carnegie Street – 7 to 8 a.m.

Poll #2 – Woodstock Ambulance Station Bysham Drive – 4 to 7:30 p.m.

Poll #3 – Tillsonburg Firehall, Concession Street – 6:30 to 8 p.m.

11. From the date of the assumption of ambulance operations by the County until the date that the OLRB issues its order determining the new bargaining agent, an employee’s terms and conditions of employment will be those under the collective agreement which last applied to him/her, as altered by the provisions of the attached Schedule A [not included]. With regard to issues pertaining to a work site rather than an employee, the collective agreement, as altered by the provisions of the attached Schedule A [not included], which previously applied to that work site will apply;

12. After the date on which the OLRB issues its order determining the new bargaining agent and subject to the provisions of the LRA and the Ambulance Services Collective Bargaining Act, 2001, the terms and conditions of employment of all employees in the bargaining unit shall be those under the last collective agreement(s) of the successful union and the predecessor employer for which that union held bargaining rights, as altered by the provisions of Schedule A;

13. The provisions of Schedule A supercede any like provisions in any of the predecessor collective agreements;

14. Immediately after the date that the OLRB issues its order determining the new bargaining agent, the County and the new bargaining agent will commence negotiations for a new collective agreement to apply to all employees in the bargaining unit. The negotiations will be conducted pursuant to the LRA and the Ambulance Services Collective Bargaining Act, 2001;

15. The new bargaining agent will not be prevented by the terms of this Memorandum from seeking retroactivity on wages only in the new collective agreement to the later of January 2, 2002 of the date that the OLRB issues its order determining the new bargaining agent;

16. Any person currently excluded from the bargaining units of the CAW with Tillsonburg or OPSEU with Woodstock who is offered and accepts employment with the County in a bargaining unit position shall have their seniority recognized as per the terns of the collective agreement which governs the service with which they are currently employed;

17. The County will have no responsibility or liability for any grievance under any collective agreement or any claims under the Employment Standards Act or Ontario Human Rights Code arising out of an employee’s employment with Tillsonburg or Woodstock.

Signed at Woodstock, Ontario this 3^rd day of December, 2001.

“M. R. Bragg”

For the County

“illegible signature”

For the CAW

“C. Huziak”

For OPSEU

3. By consent, the Board makes the following declarations and orders:

4. The transfer of operation of ambulance services from Tillsonburg and Woodstock to the County constitutes a sale of business within the meaning of section 69 of the Act;

5. There has been an intermingling of employees within the meaning of section 69(6) of the Act;

6. The following unit of employees constitutes an appropriate unit for collective bargaining (“the bargaining unit”):

all paramedics/EMA’s employed by the County of Oxford save and except Field Supervisors and persons above the rank of Field Supervisor

4. A representation vote will be taken of the individuals who meet the requirements of paragraph 7 of the parties’ Memorandum of Agreement (“the voters’ list”);

5. The County is directed to post a copy of Schedule B of the Memorandum of Agreement on employee notice boards so that it comes to the attention of those eligible to vote. The Schedule should remain posted until the representation vote has been held;

6. The vote will be held on Wednesday, January 9, 2002. Other vote arrangements will be as directed by the Registrar and set out in the attached Notice of Vote and of Hearing;

7. All individuals on the voters list are eligible to vote;

8. Voters will be asked to indicate whether they wish to be represented by OPSEU or by the CAW in their employment relations with the County;

9. The County is directed to post copies of this decision and of the “Notice of Vote and of Hearing” on employee notice boards where they are likely to come to the attention of the employees eligible to vote. The copies are to remain posted for 30 days;

10. Any party or person who wishes to make representations to the Board about any issue remaining in dispute which relates to the application for certification, other than status disputes, must file a detailed statement of representations with the Board and deliver it to the other parties, so that it is received by the Board 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. 4: Status Disputes in Certification Applications (Non-Construction).

11. The matter is referred to the Registrar.

“Christopher J. Albertyn”

for the Board