BOARD OF ARBITRATION Christopher Albertyn Chair Brian O Byrne Employer Nominee Terry Moore Union Nominee

Transcription

1 1710/H IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION BETWEEN THE HAWKESBURY AND DISTRICT GENERAL HOSPITAL ( the Hospital / the Employer ) - AND - ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION and its LOCAL 461 ( the Union ) CONCERNING AN INTEREST ARBITRATION UNDER THE HOSPITAL LABOUR DISPUTES ARBITRATION ACT, RSO 1990, c H-14 (HLDAA) BOARD OF ARBITRATION Christopher Albertyn Chair Brian O Byrne Employer Nominee Terry Moore Union Nominee APPEARANCES For the Union: Marc Casey, Research Officer Gwen Jenkins, Senior Research Officer Lisa Debransky, Staff Representative Jacques Larocque, Bargaining Committee Member Yves Lessard, Bargaining Committee Member Sylvain Thibault, Bargaining Committee Member For the Hospital: Vicky Satta, Legal Counsel, Emond Harnden, LLP Paula Campbell, Director of Research, Emond Harnden, LLP Annie Ouellette, Coordinator, Human Resources Hearing held in TORONTO on February 4, Executive session held on April 3, Award issued on June 6, 2017.

2 1 AWARD 1. This is an interest arbitration under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, RSO 1990, c H-14 ( HLDAA or the Act ). 2. The parties made their submissions at the scheduled hearing, supported by their most helpful written briefs. 3. Hawkesbury & District General Hospital is a 69-bed bilingual community hospital. Hawkesbury is a town of approximately 10,551 people (2011 Census), an hour east of Ottawa, on the south shore of the Ottawa River in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell. The Hospital serves a catchment area covering Prescott-Russell Counties, North Glengarry and Western Quebec. The Hospital provides a full range of programs and services from its main campus in Hawkesbury and two satellite centres in Clarence Rockland and Casselman. 4. The Hospital is currently undergoing a redevelopment project with some departments having already moved in to the newly constructed facilities. The project is intended to be completed by the end of In addition to the OPSEU bargaining unit, the Hospital has collective agreements with ONA (Nurses), CUPE (Service), Teamsters (Security), and USW (Office and Clerical). 6. The Union was certified on February 15, 1980 to represent the Hospital s

3 2 allied health professionals including pharmacists, technicians and technologists. The members of this bargaining unit work in the following departments and programs: ECG/EMG, Radiology, Physiotherapy, Pharmacy, Diabetic Clinic, ACTT, and the Mental Health Crisis Centre. The most populous classification is Registered Technologist accounting for approximately eighteen (18) per cent of the bargaining unit. There are approximately 100 members in the bargaining unit, with 54 full-time, 31 part-time, and 15 casual. Term of the agreement 7. The term of the renewal collective agreement is from April 1, 2016 to March 31, Agreed upon items 8. The renewal agreement will consist of the unchanged items from the collective agreement which expired on March 31, 2016, the items agreed by the parties themselves (found at Exhibit 3 of the Union s brief, Exhibit 2 of the Employer s brief), which are incorporated into this award, and the items we describe below on which the parties made submissions to us. General considerations 9. We have carefully reviewed and considered all of the submissions, and we have taken account of all of the relevant statutory and jurisprudential factors. 10. All Union and Employer proposals not specifically addressed below are

4 dismissed. Unless a specific date is set for an item awarded, it will be effective from the date of the award The parties have agreed that Article 5 of the Local Agreement will be moved. So the numbering below is the numbering that will apply with this deletion, not the number that currently appears in the collective agreement. Issues in Dispute Article 5 Leave of Absence 12. With respect to Local Union Business Leave and Local President Leave, we award: 5.1 a) A member elected to the position of Local President or any union executive member of OPSEU at HGH shall be granted a cumulative total of seven (7) days/calendar year (7.5 hours/day) of leave, paid by the Hospital. The time can be taken either on a daily or half-day basis. It is expected that these days will be entirely devoted to OPSEU/HGH business. Leave shall be scheduled as far in advance as possible. This time will be paid at the employee s regular hourly rate. b) Local union business leave will be granted to a cumulative maximum of forty (40) days per calendar year, above and beyond the seven (7) days/calendar year allotted to the Local Bargaining Unit President or union executive member, as per Article 5.a) of the present Agreement. c) The notice period required to request such leaves, as per Article 5 a) and 5 b) above, shall be fourteen (14) calendar days. The employer may waive the required notice in exceptional circumstances, which waiver will not be unreasonably withheld. d) No more than one (1) employee per designated service or program within the bargaining unit, as per Article 4.2 of the present local

5 4 Agreement shall be granted such union leave. e) Notwithstanding paragraph d) above, no more than three (3) employees shall be granted such leave at any one time or as mutually agreed. Article 5 - Union Office Space 13. We award: 5.2 Upon completion of construction, the Employer will provide office space for OPSEU 461, shared with other unions, with the Hospital voic system, access to a printer, and lockable filing cabinets for OPSEU s use. Article 6 - Hours of Work and Overtime 14. We award: 6.7 a) When more than two (2) hour of overtime is anticipated, the overtime will be dispensed to qualified employees on a seniority basis within the service or program The Master schedule may be reasonably modified and the scheduling parameters may be waived during the periods of the Christmas holiday schedule (December 20th to January 6th depending on the calendar year), and during the summer schedule (June 15th to September 15th, depending on the calendar year). Article 8 Premium Payment and Transportation / Meal Allowances 15. We award:

6 5 7.3 Time Off Between Shifts For the purposes of article of the Central Agreement, the minimum number of hours between the end of an employee s scheduled shift and the commencement of their next shift shall be twelve (12) hours. Article 9 Vacation 16. We award: 9.3(b) Outside these timelines and for requests for four (4) days or less, the current practice of requesting vacation by schedule period (see Calendar Schedule Deadlines posted on MIMI) will be maintained to determine vacation approval or refusal. Employees shall be given preference with respect to their vacation periods in accordance with seniority. The Employer will endeavour to approve vacation requests received after the schedule has been posted on a first come first served basis, within four (4) weeks. Letter of Understanding Occasional Adjusted Hours 17. We award the following Letter of Understanding with respect to Work Schedule (Flex Time) to replace the Occasional Adjusted Hours Letter of Understanding: Letter of Understanding Both parties agree that during the term of this agreement they will meet, initially within 3 months [of the date of the award] or as mutually agreed, to discuss occasional adjusted hours. The following principles will be considered by the parties with a goal to come to an agreement on the consideration, parameters and

7 6 approval of occasional adjusted hours: 1. Subject to the exclusive discretion of the Employer to approve in advance any employee request for a change of hours. 2. The period of advance notice for employees to request a change of hours. 3. The services and programs in which these requests may be considered. 4. All requests are subject to patient service requirements. 5. Acceptable reasons for the change of hours. 6. The number of requests permitted in a calendar year. 7. The number of times the parties will meet. 8. The time spent by the OPSEU members to attend the working group will be deemed time worked and will be compensated at their regular straight time hourly rate. 9. The board of arbitration: Albertyn, O Byrne, Moore, will be seized in the event of the parties being unable to conclude this Letter of Understanding during the term of this agreement, and they will have the jurisdiction of an interest arbitration board to determine the Letter. Seized 18. Pursuant to s.9(2) of the Act, we remain seized of the implementation of this award until a collective agreement is in effect between the parties. DATED at TORONTO on June 6, 2017.

8 7 Christopher J. Albertyn Chair: Board of Arbitration I concur. Brian O Byrne Brian O Byrne Employer Nominee I concur. Terry Moore Terry Moore Union Nominee