3562-00-R Labourers’ International Union of North America, Applicant v. Exclusive Carpentry Enterprises Limited, Responding Party v. Carpenters & Allied Workers Local 27, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Intervenor.
BEFORE: David A. McKee, Vice‑Chair, and Board Members J. G. Knight and G. McMenemy.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; April 24, 2001
1The style of cause is hereby amended to reflect the correct name of the responding party: "Exclusive Carpentry Enterprises Limited".
2Pursuant to the Board's direction of March 8, 2001, a representation vote was taken on March 12, 2001.
3The Board has received representations from all parties. Having considered these representations, we are satisfied that the intervenor has raised no allegations which, even if proved true, would change the result of the application.
4The intervenor has requested that the Board order another vote in this application. It seeks to do so on two bases.
5First, it now wishes to challenge the votes of three employees whose ballots were counted with the intervenor’s consent. The intervenor alleges that it was misinformed by those employees about whether they worked in the field or in the shop on the application date. Given that the definition of “employee” includes an employee “engaged in whole or in part in off-site work but who is commonly associated in work or bargaining with on-site employees”, this fact in and of itself is not relevant. It might be relevant in the context of other facts. Those facts would presumably be known to the intervenor which was the incumbent trade union and must have had some knowledge of the employees for whom it bargained. In the absence of any such facts alleged by the intervenor, this issue would not cause the Board not to count the ballot of those individuals at any time.
6In addition, this is also a request made after the ballots were counted. The interests of finality do not permit a party to continue to raise new allegations based on information it presumably could have obtained before the counting of the ballots. This is particularly so when the results of the vote are known.
7The intervenor also asserts that one employee was on holidays on the day of the vote, which was held later than the five days after the application was filed and served. The Act requires the Board to hold a representation vote within five business days of the filing unless the Board directs otherwise. This vote was held one business day later than that. The Board’s resources are not infinite, particularly during the triennial “open season” in the construction industry. Nothing in the Act requires the Board to co-ordinate vote dates with the personal schedules of every employee in the bargaining unit, nor would such a laudable goal be possible at any time of the year.
8Accordingly none of these issues would cause the Board to schedule another vote.
9In its decision of March 8, 2001, the Board found the following bargaining unit to be appropriate for collective bargaining:
all carpenters and carpenters’ apprentices of the Employer engaged in residential construction in the Province of Ontario, save and except office and sales staff and non-working foremen and persons above the rank of non-working foreman.
10On the taking of the representation vote directed by the Board, more than fifty per cent of the ballots cast by employees in the bargaining unit were cast in favour of the applicant.
11A certificate will issue to the applicant for the following bargaining unit of employees:
all carpenters and carpenters’ apprentices of Exclusive Carpentry Enterprises Limited engaged in residential construction in the Province of Ontario, save and except office and sales staff and non-working foremen and persons above the rank of non-working foreman.
12The 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.
13The responding party is directed to post copies of this decision immediately, adjacent to the "Notice of Vote and of Meeting" posted previously. These copies must remain posted for a period of 30 days.
“David A. McKee”
for the Board