Ray Fredette

The applicant trade union applied for certification to represent a bargaining unit of occasional teachers employed by the respondent school board.

The parties disputed whether 'supply instructors'—unqualified persons employed on an emergency basis to substitute for regular teachers—should be included in the same bargaining unit as qualified occasional teachers.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board determined that occasional teachers and supply instructors have different communities of interest due to statutory distinctions and employment aspirations.

The Board concluded that the appropriate bargaining unit should consist solely of occasional teachers, consistent with its past practice, and directed that a certificate issue to the applicant.

The applicant trade union applied for certification to represent occasional teachers employed by the respondent school board.

The Board found that the applicant was a trade union and that the proposed bargaining unit of occasional teachers was appropriate.

The Board determined that occasional teachers were not covered by existing collective agreements with other unions, as they had been historically overlooked and fell under the Labour Relations Act by default.

Finding that more than fifty-five percent of the employees in the unit were members of the applicant, the Board granted the certificate.