P/0028/99

IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION

Under

THE PUBLIC SERVICE ACT

Before

THE PUBLIC SERVICE GRIEVANCE BOARD

BETWEEN

Todd Smith

Grievor

• and -

The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services)

Employer

BEFORE

Deborah J.D. Leighton

Vice-Chair

FOR THE GRIEVOR

Todd Smith

FOR THE EMPLOYER

Dennis Bolton Staff Relations Officer Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services

HEARING

April 7, 2000.

Mr. Todd Smith is an Operational Manager (OM16 Schedule 5) at the Maplehurst Complex in Milton. On November 15, 1999, he grieved that classified Correctional Officers had received retroactively to March 1999 an increase in weekend pay premiums and evening shift premiums. Mr. Smith took the position that the employer had not followed “past precedence” and likewise paid these new premium payments retroactively, to Schedule 5, Operational Managers.

At the outset of the hearing into this matter, Mr. Dennis Bolton made a motion to the board to dismiss the grievance. Mr. Bolton argued that the board’s jurisdiction to hear grievances concerning working conditions and terms of employment was grounded in the Public Service Act and Regulation 977. There is nothing in the Regulation or the Act which permits the board to apply the terms of the OPSEU collective agreement to managers.

Mr. Bolton noted that the board had considered and decided the issue of jurisdiction in this kind of case, most recently in Easto et al and Ministry of Correctional Services, P/0025/99 (Agarwal) and had held that there was no point in relitigating the issue of whether managers are entitled to retroactive increases in compensation as received by OPSEU members.

Mr. Smith argued that when managers are informed by upper management that they will receive the same increases as the bargaining unit, as they were in this case, and then the payments are delayed, it is degrading to come to the board to claim “OPSEU” type increases and have the employer argue that the board has no jurisdiction to hear the grievance. Mr. Smith noted in conclusion that the only response to his grievance was a letter denying it.

DECISION

The issue of whether this board has the jurisdiction to consider whether operational managers are entitled to retroactive increases in wages and benefits as received by OPSEU employees under their collective agreement has been considered and rejected. Laird et al, P/0050/95 (Lynk) and Blakeney et al, P/0144/96 (Leighton) In Easto this board held that the issue should not be relitigated. Although this board is not bound to follow a prior decision, unless there is some clear reason not to follow it, I am of the view that it should be followed. Since no reason has been advanced here not to follow the cases noted above, I am persuaded that the board has no jurisdiction to hear this grievance.

For the reasons noted above, the grievance is hereby dismissed.

Dated at Toronto, this 16^th day of May, 2000.