Ontario Labour Relations Board
Between:
Al Russo, Applicant v. National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation & General Workers Union of Canada (CAW-Canada), Responding Party v. SKD Company, Intervenor.
Before: Mary Anne McKellar, Vice-Chair
Decision of the Board
1This is a request for reconsideration of the Board’s decision dated October 9, 2001 (“the Decision”), which dismissed the applicant’s application alleging that the responding party trade union (“the CAW”) had breached section 74 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“the Act”), and that the Intervenor had breached section 76 of the Act.
2The section 74 application was commenced on April 11, 2001 and was scheduled for consultation on August 30, 2001. The section 76 application was commenced on April 11, 2001 and scheduled for hearing on August 30, 2001. The applicant has been represented by the same legal counsel from the commencement of his application through the consultation and hearing process, and up to and including the filing of his reconsideration request.
3The request for reconsideration (Form A-49) filed with the Board on November 26, 2001 is accompanied by a twenty-three page document of submissions in support of the request. The final paragraph of these submissions reads:
For all of these reasons, Mr. Russo asks the Board to reconsider its decision dated October 09, 2001, and if necessary, grant an order extending the time for filing this request for reconsideration.
4Rules 94 – 96 of the Board’s Rules of Procedure govern reconsideration requests:
A request for reconsideration must include complete written representations in support of the request.
Where a party is directed to file a response to the request, it must include complete written representations in support of its position.
No request for reconsideration will be considered where it is filed more than twenty (20) days after the date of the Board’s decision, except with the permission of the Board.
5Rule 1(f) of the Board’s Rules of Procedure sets out the following definition of the word “day” when used in the Rules:
“day” means any day of the week from Monday to Friday, excluding a statutory holiday and any other day the Board is closed.
6Employing the above definition of “day” it is apparent that the reconsideration request was filed 33 days after the date of the Decision, and is therefore not timely pursuant to Rule 96.
7By letter dated November 26, 2001, Counsel for the Intervenor objected to the reconsideration request on the grounds that it was untimely. He noted that nowhere in the documentation accompanying the request is any explanation offered for the failure to deliver and file the request in a timely way. Counsel for the Intervenor also indicated that he would be taking the position that, timeliness issues aside, the reconsideration request was without merit, but that he would not make any submissions on that point unless and until directed to do so by the Board.
8Counsel for the Intervenor is correct in his assertion that the Board has declined to relieve against the time limits in Rule 96, absent a compelling reason to do so. (See Toronto Public Library Board, [2000] O.L.R.D. No. 1162; Canbuild Management Services Ltd., [2001] O.L.R.D. No. 245 and [2001] O.L.R.D. No. 921; and Iron Range Bus Lines Inc., [2000] O.L.R.D. No. 3758). In cases, as here, where no explanation has been offered, the Board has simply refused to entertain the reconsideration request. (See McIntosh Limousine Service Ltd., [2000] O.L.R.D. No. 2271; Burkitt, [2000] O.L.R.D. No. 4050; Bombardier Aerospace, [2000] O.L.R.D. No. 2426; Nucleus Housing Inc., [1999] O.L.R.D. No. 4704). The cases cited by the Intervenor support the same propositions, but they arose under the predecessor to Rule 96, Rule 85. (See Mohawk Services, [1993] O.L.R.B. Rep. Apr. 355; and Reginald Fitzgerald, [1994] O.L.R.B. Rep. Nov. 1535).
9The reconsideration request is untimely, and no explanation has been offered for the failure to file it in a timely way. This request for reconsideration is therefore dismissed.
“Mary Anne McKellar”
for the Board