Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal
PEHT Case No: 2721-22-PE
OPSEU/SEFPO, Applicant v Canadian Blood Services, Respondent
BEFORE: M. David Ross, Chair
DECISION OF THE BOARD: May 26, 2023
This is an application under the Pay Equity Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P.7, as amended ("the Act"). This application was filed on March 10, 2023.
Section 4.2 of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act permits a single presiding officer to decide this procedural or interlocutory matter.
The dispute in this application involves the interpretation of part H of the parties' Minutes of Settlement dated January 19, 2010. Part H states:
H. Pay Equity Maintenance
Both parties acknowledge the obligation to ensure that pay equity is maintained for the bargaining units.
When a new position is created, or there has been significant change to a position, either the Union or the Employer shall advise the other party in writing and the parties will agree to meet to seek to resolve such issues in a timely way.
The applicant asserts that these provisions obligate the respondent to negotiate pay equity maintenance. The respondent asserts that this language does not obligate it to negotiate pay equity maintenance with the union.
The Court has confirmed that a union does not have a statutory right to negotiate pay equity maintenance in 10 Community Care Access Centres, 2021 ONSC 5348. It is also well established in the Tribunal's jurisprudence that if an employer and a union enter into an agreement to negotiate pay equity maintenance, such an agreement will be upheld by the Tribunal and the statutory obligation to negotiate in good faith applies to those negotiations.
In the Tribunal's view, after reviewing the pleadings in this case, there is a narrow, threshold issue that should be determined first before receiving further submissions on other preliminary objections and other issues. The first issue that will be decided is whether the language of Article H constituted an agreement between the parties to negotiate pay equity maintenance? This issue can be decided pursuant to a written hearing pursuant to Rule 69 of the Tribunal's Rules of Practice.
Accordingly, the parties are directed to file submissions on this issue pursuant to the following timeline:
a) By no later than June 26, 2023, the applicant will file its submissions in support of its position that the language of Article H constitutes an agreement between the parties to negotiate pay equity maintenance;
b) By no later than July 26, 2023, the respondent will file its response submissions in support of its position that the language of Article H does not constitute an agreement between the parties to negotiate pay equity maintenance; and
c) By no later than August 9, 2023, the applicant will file any reply submissions.
The submissions shall contain any documentary evidence and authorities that the parties rely upon.
The panel seized with the merits of this application will consider and determine this issue in due course. The other objections raised by the respondent will be held in abeyance pending the Tribunal's decision as set out above.
"M. David Ross"
M. David Ross, Chair