1078-01-U Labourers’ International Union of North America, Ontario Provincial District Council on its own behalf and on behalf of its affiliated Local Unions 183, 247, 493, 506, 527, 607, 625, 837, 1036, 1059, 1081 and 1089, Applicant v. Labourers’ Employer Bargaining Agency, Construction Labour Relations Association of Ontario and Sudbury Construction Association, Responding Parties.
BEFORE: Harry Freedman, Vice-Chair, and Board Members J. G. Knight and G. McMenemy.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; December 12, 2001
1This application under section 96 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, S.O. 1995, c. 1, as am. alleges the responding parties violated sections 17, 45 and 70 of the Act in relation to the change of local union jurisdiction over the “Kapuskasing Area” in the most recent round of collective bargaining for the renewal of the Labourers’ provincial collective agreement.
2By decision dated December 7, 2001, the Board dismissed a request by the applicant for an order requiring the responding parties to provide a statement of all of the material facts upon which they intend to rely at the hearing of this matter. The Board in that decision also noted that the applicant had written to counsel for the responding parties requesting production of certain documents but had not sought a pre-hearing production order.
3Counsel for the applicant, by letter dated December 10, 2001 advised the Board that the responding parties oppose any direction requiring the production of documents. Counsel states in his letter of December 10^th^: “…we are requesting that the Board direct the Responding Party [sic] to produce the documents referred to in the applicant’s letter dated December 5, 2001.” The letter of December 5, 2001 listed seven categories of documents:
A) Documents, books, journals, ledgers, minutes or computer records, which provide a list of all:
Member companies, member employers and member employer associations of the Labourers’ Employer Bargaining Agency, Construction Labour Relations Association of Ontario and the Sudbury Construction Association for the years of 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998 and 2001.
Officers and directors of the Labourers’ Employer Bargaining Agency, Construction Labour Relations Association of Ontario and the Sudbury Construction Association for the years of 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998 and 2001.
Committee members, including negotiating committees, for the Labourers’ Employer Bargaining Agency, Construction Labour Relations Association of Ontario and the Sudbury Construction Association for the years of 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998 and 2001. Labourers’ Employer Bargaining Agency, Construction Labour Relations Association of Ontario and the Sudbury Construction Association for the years of 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998 and 2001.
B) Copy of Constitution, By-Laws, Letters Patent or any other originating or governing document applicable to the Labourers’ Employer Bargaining Agency, Construction Labour Relations Association of Ontario and the Sudbury Construction Association.
C) Copy of all Minutes of Meetings of the:
- Membership, including any resolutions, of the Labourers’ Employer Bargaining Agency, Construction Labour Relations Association of Ontario and the Sudbury Construction Association where the issue of geographical jurisdiction is referred to, dealt with or discussed all for the period of 1957 to present.
Meetings of the Executive Board, Board of Directors or other governing body, including any resolutions, of the Labourers’ Employer Bargaining Agency, Construction Labour Relations Association of Ontario and the Sudbury Construction Association where the issue of geographical jurisdiction is referred to, dealt with or discussed all for the period of 1957 to present.
Meetings of the Membership, Executive, Board of Directors or other governing body of the Labourers’ Employer Bargaining Agency, Construction Labour Relations Association of Ontario and the Sudbury Construction Association where individuals are appointed, elected or in any way placed on negotiating committees all for the years of 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998 and 2001.
4It is not obvious to us that all (or even a few) of the documents described by the applicant are even arguably relevant to the issues raised in this application which, we understand, relate to the conduct of the responding parties between April and June 2001. We have some difficulty appreciating how minutes going back to 1957 or indeed, minutes or documents relating to events that occurred prior to 2001 are relevant to this matter. Furthermore, it appears to us that given the breadth and scope of the production sought by the applicant, the applicant may well be engaged in the nature of a “fishing expedition” to discover what could exist in the bowels of the responding parties’ records that might possibly assist it in the presentation of its case.
5Counsel for the applicant indicated that he would be prepared to deal with the production of documents at the hearing of this matter or, if the Board considers it appropriate, to be available to deal with the production issue by way of a teleconference. The applicant, in our view, has not provided reasonable grounds for granting the production order sought. It is up to the applicant to prove its case. Presumably, the applicant had enough facts through its investigation of the matter to warrant bringing this application so it should be prepared to proceed with its case when the hearing convenes. Should the responding parties or any of them seek to rely on documents at the hearing of this application that have not been produced to the applicant in a timely way, then that is a matter that the applicant may raise at the appropriate time.
6The Board is not prepared to make an order directing production of documents requested by the applicant prior to the hearing of this matter. Therefore, the applicant’s request for pre-hearing production is dismissed. How the panel assigned to the hearing will deal with the production issue if the applicant wishes to pursue it will be up to that panel of the Board.
7This panel of the Board is not seized with this matter.
“Harry Freedman”
for the Board