Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

Re Izaak Walton Killam Grace Health Centre For Children, Women And Families And Nsnu, Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

Union grievance dated November 19, 1999, alleging breach of Articles 3, 4 and 8 of the Collective Agreement between the Employer and the Union effective November 1, 1997-October 31, 2000, in that the Employer failed to adjust the wages of Clinical Leaders at the site of the former IWK Hospital to the level of those of Clinical Resource Nurses at the site of the former Grace Maternity Hospital. The Union requested an order that the Clinical Leaders at the IWK site be paid retroactively from November 1, 1997 to August 31, 1998 at the level of the rates paid during …

Re Canada Post Corp And Cupw (078-00-00032), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

This is a policy grievance to determine whether the Employer may use temporary employees to cover extra absences on annual vacation that result from senior employees taking more than four consecutive weeks of vacation. The parties are agreed on the facts, and there is no extrinsic evidence to consider; the Arbitrator is asked to interpret the words of the Agreement and give effect to the intention of the parties.

The grievance fails. The Employer's interpretation is not inconsistent with other articles of the Agreement.

Re Canada Post Corp And Cupw (078-00-00025), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

The Grievor requested six days of leave to take care of her mother following surgery. Her supervisor assured her that there would be no difficulty obtaining those days, and encouraged her to apply for them after taking the time off, in case she should need to apply for more than the expected 6 days. When she returned to work and made the application, 5 of the days she requested were denied, on the grounds that the one day she was awarded and the two days of the weekend should have given her adequate time to find alternate care for her …

Re Canada Post Corp And Cupw (105-95-00438), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

The Union claims that in measuring routes in which the carrier stops the truck and walks in a loop up one side of the street and down the other, the Employer has missed distances on 56 or 57 routes. The Employer's position is that while the system in place does appear to under compensate in the case of loops, the values used in measuring routes are agreed values, and must be accepted.

The grievance fails. The Employer is measuring routes in the manner agreed upon, using accepted values. Whether those values may be appropriate is not a matter for the …

Re Canada Post Corp And Cupw (105-95-00435), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

The Union alleges that the Employer has breached the Agreement by failing to assign sortation values for sorting the "buddy's" parcels for all MMC routes in the city of Saint John. The Employer acknowledged that wrong values had been entered, as a result of clerical error, and undertook to make necessary corrections. It also stated that, as agreed upon with the Union, it had made time corrections to some routes to provide for equalization, though this had not been carried out for all routes.

The grievance succeeds in part. The Employer is directed to comply with its understanding with the …

Re Canada Post Corp And Cupw (105-95-00432), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

The Union alleges a breach in the system the Employer has used to deal with bundles of "missorts" and specifically, in that the Employer provided inaccurate 050 forms for letter carrier and motorized mail carrier routes in Saint John. The Employer states that the passage used by the Union to support its allegation applies only to redirected mail, not to missorts.

The grievance fails. The Arbitrator is satisfied that the missorts were not incorrectly dealt with. The provision upon which the Union's argument depends does not apply to Saint John's unit.

Privatizing Justice But By How Much? Questions Gilmer Did Not Answer, Martin H. Malin

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Babin V Day & Ross Inc, Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

At the hearing before me the Complainant, Mark J. Babin, alleged that he was dismissed unjustly, contrary to sections 240-2 of the Canada Labour Code, by the Employer, Day and Ross Inc. with whom he had been employed since October 13, 1993. From that date to his termination on February 8, 2000, the Complainant was a driver for the Employer, a trucking company, working out of its Dartmouth depot. Counsel for the Employer took the position that the Complainant had "abandonned" his employment and that I am therefore without jurisdiction to deal with this matter. Alternatively, the Employer took …

El Impacto Del Arbitraje En Los Patrones Huelgarios De Puerto Rico, 1956-1995, César F. Rosado Marzán

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Changing Role Of Labor Arbitration, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: New Rules for a New Game: Regulating Employment Relationships in the 21st Century, held at the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington.

Arbitration Of Statutory Claims In The Unionized Workplace: Is Bargaining With The Union Required?, Ann C. Hodges

Law Faculty Publications

This article analyzes the question of whether arbitration of statutory claims should be classified as a mandatory or permissive subject of bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). First, this article reviews the post-Wright cases that hold that a union-negotiated waiver is permissible. Second, this article reviews the only decision to consider the issue of classification of the bargaining subject, Air Line Pilots Ass'n, International v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., a case arising in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia under the Railway Labor Act. In that case, the court concluded that the …

The Employment Law Decisions Of The October 2000 Term Of The Supreme Court: A Review And Analysis, Ann C. Hodges, Douglas D. Scherer

Scholarly Works

During the October 2000 Term, the Supreme Court delivered major setbacks for employees in Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams,' which upheld mandatory and binding arbitration of federal and state employment discrimination claims through arbitration clauses forced upon employees as a condition of employment, and in Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, which shielded state employers from federal court law suits brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act by victims of disability discrimination in employment. Employees escaped harm in Pollard v. E.I du Pont de Nemours & Co., in which the Court followed nearly unanimous circuit …

Dispute Resolution In The Boundaryless Workplace, Katherine V.W. Stone

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Since the Supreme Court's decision Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp. which compelled an employee to submit his age discrimination claim to arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), there has been a dramatic increase in the number of nonunion firms adopting arbitration systems. At the same time, there has been a flood of lawsuits challenging these employment systems, and a corresponding avalanche of judicial opinions addressing the legal issues left open in Gilmer – issues such as the problematic nature of consent in employment arbitration, the deficiencies in due process, and the applicability of the FAA to employment contracts. These …

Gilmer In The Collective Bargaining Context, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

Can a privately negotiated arbitration agreement deprive employees of the statutory right to sue in court on claims of discrimination in employment because of race, sex, religion, age, disability, and similar grounds prohibited by federal law? Two leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions, decided almost two decades apart, reached substantially different answers to this questionand arguably stood logic on its head in the process. In the earlier case of Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., involving arbitration under a collective bargaining agreement, the Court held an adverse award did not preclude a subsequent federal court action by the black grievant alleging racial discrimination. …

The Changing Role Of Labor Arbitration (Symposium: New Rules For A New Game: Regulating Employment Relationships In The 21st Century), Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

A quarter century ago, in a provocative and prophetic article, David E. Feller lamented the imminent close of what he described as labor arbitration's "golden age." I have expressed reservations about that characterization, insofar as it suggested an impending shrinkage in the stature of arbitration. But Professor Feller was right on target in one important respect. Labor arbitration was going to change dramatically from the autonomous institution in the relatively self-contained world of union-management relations which it had been from the end of World War II into the 1970s. When the subject matter was largely confined to union-employer agreements, arbitration …

Re Abt Building Products Canada Ltd. And Cep, Local 434, Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

This is a policy grievance to determine the work the Spare Boiler Operator may perform. The Employer stated that it intended to assign duties to the Spare Boiler Operator as it saw fit, in order to keep him employed. These duties were not related to steam and boiler operation; they were jobs properly performed by a labourer. It is the position of the Employer that it may assign whatever maintenance duties it wishes to those in the Maintenance Department, so long as no senior employee is displaced. The Union's position is that the function of the Spare Boiler Operator is …

Re Canada Post Corp And Cupw (Smith), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

The Employer called a temporary worker in to cover hours for a sick temporary letter carrier filling in the absence of the permanent carrier on that route, thus going "temp to temp". The Union claims that the Employer should have offered the overtime to a regular employee. It asks that the Employee who should have been offered extended hours or overtime be compensated. The Employer's position is that the relevant position is that of the permanent employee, not the temporary workers'.

Nova Scotia (Minister Of Education & Culture) V Nstu, Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

Supplementary award with respect to a Union grievance dated April 23, 1998, alleging breach Article 43.01 and Schedules D1, D2, D3 and D4 of the Collective Agreement between the Minister and the Union made February 3, 1998 for the term November 1, 1997-October 31, 1999 in that all school boards in Nova Scotia have refused to pay at the salary levels set out in the Schedules following the end of the effect of the Public Sector Compensation (1994-97) Act on October 31, 1997. The parties agreed that the Halifax Regional School Board would be used as an example …

Re Canada Post Corp And Cupw (Bedford), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

The Grievor was suspended, then terminated for stealing taxi chits for his own use. The Union claims that discharge was excessive in this case, considering the personal stresses on the Grievor at the time, and the Grievor's previous good record. The Union also grieves that the suspension was imposed without written notice as required by the Agreement. The Employer argues that the Grievor's act is a breach of trust such that the Employer-Employee relationship is broken beyond repair.

Re Abt Building Products Canada Ltd And Cep, Loc 434 (Shatford), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

Employee grievance alleging breach of the Collective Agreement between the parties effective March 9, 1998 — December 15, 2002 in that the Employer breached Article 3 and Appendix "C" of the Collective Agreement by suspending the Grievor for five days with­out sufficient cause and breached the Collective Agreement by defaming the Grievor. The Grievor seeks reimbursement for the five days of wages and consequent benefits lost, and damages and a writ­ten apology for defamation.

Re Farmers Co-Operative Dairy Ltd And Cep, Local 40n, Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

The Grievor claims that he was unjustly discharged, and seeks reinstatement with full compensation for lost pay and benefits. The Employer discharged the Grievor for failure to report to work or to call in, together with his history of failing to report to work. The issues are whether the Grievor's actions justified discipline, whether it was a culminating event, and what discipline, if any, should be substituted. The Union argues that the Collective Agreement stipulates circumstances under which an employee's disciplinary record becomes clean in Article 24 J, and that this is such a case, resulting in the Employer's inability …

Negligent Retention And Arbitration: The Effect Of A Developing Tort On Traditional Labor Law, Terry A. Bethel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Arbitration And Judicial Review, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Other Publications

A quarter century ago, in a presentation at the Academy's annual meeting, I used the phrase "contract reader" to characterize the role an arbitrator plays in construing a collective bargaining agreement. That two-word phrase may be the only thing I ever said before this body that has been remembered. Unfortunately, it is almost invariably misunderstood. Time and again members have reproached me: "What's the big deal about contract reading, anyway? Isn't it just the same as contract interpretation?" Or, more substantively scathing: "Do you really think, Ted, that all you have to do to interpret a labor agreement is to …

Contract Reading' In Labor Arbitration, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

A quarter century ago, I used the phrase "contract reader" to characterize the role an arbitrator plays in construing a collective bargaining agreement. This phrase has almost invariable been misunderstood to refer to reading or interpreting the contract. When I spoke of the "contract reader," it was in the context of judicial review of an award. My point was this: When a court has before it an arbitrator's award applying a collective bargaining agreement, it is as if the employer and the union had signed a stipulation stating: "What the arbitrator says this contract means is exactly what we meant …

Judicial Review Of Arbitration Awards On Public Policy Grounds: Lessons From The Case Law, Ann C. Hodges

Law Faculty Publications

A review of the case law demonstrates that most of the labor arbitration awards challenged on public policy grounds involve reinstatement of discharged employees. This article analyzes 138 private sector federal cases in which labor arbitration ·awards have been contested on public policy grounds. All the cases reviewed are discharge cases in which arbitration awards reversing the terminations were challenged. The article attempts to determine the factors that influence courts to uphold or overturn arbitration awards. This analysis will provide assistance to arbitrators in writing opinions that are less subject to challenge, and to employers, unions, and their attorneys in …

Re Canada Post Corp And Cupw (078-95-00677), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

Union grievance alleging breach of the Collective Agreement between the parties bearing the date January 31, 1995, which continues in effect and which the parties agreed applies to this matter, and in particular of Articles 11, 15, 17 and 52, in that, on July 12 and 26, 1999 two relief letter carders were assigned from LCD#2 to LCD#1 without following the seniority and staffing provisions of the Collective Agreement. The Union requested that the appropriate employees be compensated for any lost liar its, earnings and benefits, with interest at the Bank of Canada rate.

Re Canada Post Corp And Cupw (078-95-00664), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

Union grievance alleging breach of the Collective Agreement between the parties bearing the date January 31, 1995, which continues in effect and which the parties agreed applies to this matter, and in particular of Articles 15 and 17, in that, from June 22 to June 25 regular employees in Group 2 were bypassed in administration of overtime while temporary employees covered uncovered routes, and on June 24 J. Robichaud worked beyond 8 hours. The Union requested that the by-passed employees be compensated for earnings lost on those two days, with interest at the Bank of Canada rate and that the …

Mandatory Arbitration Of Statutory Claims In The Union Workplace After Wright V. Universal Maritime Service Corp., Daniel Roy

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Nstu V Nova Scotia (Minister Of Education & Culture), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

The grievance involves the decision of all School Boards in Nova Scotia to refuse payment at the salary levels set out in Schedules of the Collective Agreement following the end of the effect of the Public Sector Compensation (1994-97) Act. The issue is whether teachers' experience-based salary increments provided for in the Agreement, and denied them for the school year 1994-95, are lost not only during the period the Act was in force, but also as the basis on which their salaries after October 31, 1997 are to be determined. According to the School Boards, their teachers permanently lost one …

Arbitration Agreements: When Do Employees Waive Their Wrights?, Michelle R. Mitchell

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.