BETWEEN: IN THE MATTER OF AN INTERST ARBITRATION UNDER THE HOSPITAL LABOUR DISPUTES ARBITRATION ACT RECEIVED OCT 1 3 2006 Ministry of Labour PORTAL VILLAGE LMS- ARBITRATION SERVIC (hereinafter referred to as the "Employer J :.. ES -and- BOARD OF ARBITRATION Gerald J. Charney, Q.C., Chairperson Bob Bass, Employer Nominee Jeffrey Sack, Union Nominee APPEARANCES FOR THE EMPLOYER lrv Kleiner, Employer Counsel Ray Barlow for Portal Village Retirement Home Todd Shoalts of Lester Shoalts Limited Cheryl Bilodeau for Portal Village Retirement Home APPEARANCES FOR THE UNION Ryan Wood, Research Associate Marcelle Goldenberg, Executive Vice-President and Director of Research Judi Christou, Senior Research Co-ordinator Marty Parker, Union Representative Jeff Burch, Union Representative Paula Caparchiene, Bargaining Committee Member Jackie Hill, Bargaining Committee Member Debbie Agoston, Bargaining Committee Member,....,~-~~, -------- ~-. The hearing in this matter was held on April13, 2005 at Thorold, Ontario.
This Arbitration Board has been constituted pursuant to the Hospital Labour Relations Dispute Arbitration Act ("HLDM") to resolve the matters in dispute for the resolution of the renewal collective agreement between Lester Shoalts Limited ("Lester Shoalts") carrying on business as Portal Village Retirement Home ("Portal Village") and SEIU. The collective agreement expired on December 31, 2003. As the parties have not achieved agreement on a longer-term renewal, this renewal agreement will be for a two year period expiring December 31, 2005 pursuant to the provisions of HLDM. The 1 03-bed Retirement Home facility is known as Portal Village Retirement Home is located in the City of Port Colborne. There are also 45 independent living apartments attached to the Facility, consisting of one and two bedroom suites. The retirement area in the Facility provides full service retirement living support and some assistance with acts of daily living. The retirement area also provides accommodation and care related services for seniors which include provision of linens, meals, housekeeping, laundry, activities, programs, and some assistance with activities of daily living. The indepe?ndent apartments offer an optional meal plan if needed. The classifications in the bargaining unit are: Head Cooks- 1 full-time and 1 part-time Cooks - 1 full-time and 1 part-time and 1 occasional Housekeeping- 3 full-time and 2 part-time and 3 occasional Dietary- 2 full-time and 16 part-time and 2 occasional Laundry- 1 full-time and 1 part-time Health Care Aides- 4 full-time and 13 part-time and 1 occasional Page 2
There are approximately 56 bargaining unit members. The expired collective agreement is the second collective agreement with SEIU. CLAC was the original union representing these employees. On December 13, 1999, SEIU was successfully certified as the bargaining agent for this unit, displacing CLAC. This Employer and SEIU freely negotiated the collective agreement which expired on December 31, 2003. The term of the expired collective agreement was from April 1, 2001 to December 31st, 2003. In this round of bargaining, the Union and the Employer attempted to conclude a renewal collective agreement through the collective bargaining process but were unsuccessful in doing so. The Board considered Schedule "Q" to the Savings and Restructuring Act, 1996, which contains amendments to the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act. Under the Schedule the Board is to consider: a) the Employer's ability to pay in light of the fiscal situation; b) the extent to which services may have to be reduced in light of the decision or Award, if current funding and taxation levels are not increased; c) the economic situation in Ontario and the municipality where the Hospital is located; Page 3
d) a comparison as between the employees and other comparable employees in the public and private sectors of the terms and conditions of employment and the nature of the work performed; e) the Employer's ability to attract and retain qualified employees. The Employer and the Union could not agree on what replication principals would apply. The Employer urged me to consider only retirement homes, the Unicin urged a combination of nursing homes, retirement homes and hospital rates. The Union gave me rates from the Niagara Health System, Hotel Dieu Hospital in Sf Catharines, and the Atikokan General Hospital. The nursing home comparator referred to by the Union was Extendicare, St. Catharines, which was part of the SEIU Nursing Master Group. The Union also made the point that where there was a combined nursing home/retirement home facility, the Employer paid the same or comparable rates for the classifications in each facility. The Employer provided all retirement home wage data of all the unionized homes and urged that replication be made with them as a more representative example. The Employer also provided an analysis of 91 recent retirement home settlements and awards, which in large part, provided increases around the 2.0%-2.. 5% range per annum. It was also noted that there was no uniformity of wage rates in the expired retirement home agreements. The most recent SEIU award was rendered by a board chaired by Arbitrator Kaplan. It provided a 2% increase in each year of a 2 year Page 4
award. I should also point out that wages in that home were higher than here. Many of the settlements were for 3 years though some did occasionally exceed the 2.5% level. Some 3 year settlements provided 2% increases or less. My award is as follows (all issyes are effective on the date of the award unless indicated otherwise): 1. AGREED UPON TERMS All agreed upon terms are to be incorporated into the collective agreement as part of this award. 2. TERM The term of the collective agreement shall be from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2005. 3. HOLIDAYS Status quo. 4. VACATIONS The vacation provision (Article 19) will be amended as necessary to provide 6 weeks vacation after 25 years. Page5
5. SIGNING BONUS No award and delete existing Article 27.01 as a housekeeping matter. 6. FLU VACCINATION No award. 7. PENSION Given that this agreement expired in 2005, it is my view that it is inappropriate for a pension at this time. 8. WAGES Considering the totality of the wage data before me as it relates to retirement home settlements and the wide range of retirement home rates of pay: January 1, 2004: 2. 75% January 1, 2005: 2.75% 9. RETROACTIVITY The clause proposed by the Union shall be awarded as modified below. Retroactivity on wages shall be paid to present and former employees of the employer on the basis of all hours paid. Employees who have left will have 60 days to respond to an employers notice of retroactivity sent to their last known address. Page 6
The Board shall remain seized of all differences concerning the implementation of its decision and we thank the parties for their assistance in this matter. DATED in Toronto this 11th day of September, 2006. Gs ; Ch,ooy, Acbitca!O< I dissent "Bob Bass" Dissent attached Bob Bass, Employer Nominee I dissent "Jeffrey Sack" Dissent to follow Jeffrey Sack, Union Nominee Page 7
21-Sep-2006 08:26am From- T-280 P.003/003 F-966 IN THE MATTER OF AN INTEREST ARBITRATION BETWEEN: PORTAL VILLAGE & SEIU Dissent of Employer Nominee: I can concur with the decision of the chair on all matters except for wages. While the wage increases awarded are consistent with Ontario's labour relations trends at this time, the comprehensive data before this Soard at the hearing did fall into the 2-2.5% range and I would have therefore awarded increases closer to those awarded by Kaplan in SEIU and Lifestvle Retirement Homes (Donway Place and Forest Hil!). Signed this 20th day of September, 2006.