Workers claimed it was a chance encounter but evidence pointed to premeditated ‘scab hunt’: Arbitrator
An Ontario employerhad justcause to fire three striking workers who were involved in an assault on anotherworker who crossed the picket line, an arbitrator has ruled.
InJuly 2009, workers at Vale Canada’s nickel smelting plant in Sudbury, Ont.,went on strike. After six months of a fierce labour dispute, Vale decided totry to begin its smelting operations. Some employees along with replacementworkers and contractors were brought in to get the plant up and running again.
Oneof the workers who decided to cross the picket line in January 2010 was acidplant operator Todd Chretien. Chretien had been struggling financially anddecided he needed to get working again. Other union members found out and hispicture was posted on the union’s Facebook page with the “scab” label.
Chretienexperienced some harassment stemming from his decision, including the word“scab” spraypainted on his car and his tires slashed. A poster was also placedon his car and in his apartment building calling him a scab.
OnJan. 14, 2010, a private security firm hired by Vale discovered strikingworker, union activist and 19-year employee Mike French in his car atChretien’s apartment building. French said he was looking for a new apartmentand it was a coincidence it was Chretien’s building, but a scab poster waslater found in the lobby and French had been seen carrying a piece of paperinto the building.
Altercation with physical assault
On Jan. 19, Chretien was not working and went for a run inthe early afternoon. He saw a truck that matched the description of the onethat had been seen at his apartment pass him. The truck stopped, turned around,and pulled over ahead of Chretien. French got out of the truck along with twoother striking Vale workers, James Patterson and Patrick Veniot — who had 16and 22 years of service with Vale, respectively.
According to Chretien, the three men loudly insulted himand called him a scab. French hit him, knocking him to the ground, while theother two looked on and continued to yell at him. Chretien suffered minorinjuries and the three striking workers were all charged with harassment. Theywere acquitted, but French was charged and convicted with assault.
On Jan. 22, Vale dismissed French, Patterson and Veniot forparticipating in the assault and engaging in a “premeditated effort to harassand intimidate” an employee who was exercising his “lawful right to continue towork for our company.” The company deemed the incident “a fundamental rejectionof the principles and values of our company and a complete repudiation of yourongoing obligations as an employee.”
Workers denied premeditation
The three men grieved their dismissals, claiming it was acoincidence they came across Chretien, as they were getting something to eatbefore going to a union meeting. When they saw Chretien jogging, they wanted tohave a discussion with him. French said Chretien escalated the situation withinsults and yelling, which led to French giving in to his anger and throwing apunch. Patterson and Veniot said they weren’t part of the assault and they wereall victims of Vale’s attempts to undermine the union.
French also denied having anything to do with vandalizingChretien’s car or leaving posters in the lobby of his apartment building,claiming he didn’t know where Chretien lived.
The arbitrator found French wasn’t truthful about severalthings. First of all, it was unlikely he had been at Chretien’s building bycoincidence when looking for an apartment. As it turned out, French didn’t goto any other places looking for an apartment and he had been seen with a pieceof paper entering the building — after which a scab poster was found. Also,French’s explanation that the three men happened upon Chretien jogging while onthe way to a union meeting didn’t pass muster — the meeting was on the otherside of town at that time, the union official called them wondering where theywere and there was no reason for them to be near Chretien’s residence. Nor wasit likely they would have spotted him jogging if they weren’t looking for him,said the arbitrator.
The arbitrator also found that although French issued acourt-ordered apology to Chretien, there was no acceptance of responsibility orshow of remorse. In fact, French had reportedly said at a union meeting thenext day that “I am the one that hit that f---ing scab.” Add to that the factFrench was convicted of assault, so the arbitrator found the assault waspremeditated and not in the heat of the moment.
While Patterson and Veniot didn’t participate in thephysical assault, the arbitrator found they were still part of the effort toharass and intimidate Chretien. They went along for the ride — which thearbitrator already determined was meant to specifically look for Chretien —participated in verbal insults and did nothing to stop the assault. They werealso untruthful about the incident and showed no remorse for what happened,said the arbitrator.
Though all three workers had lengthy service records withno discipline, this wasn’t sufficient to set aside a termination for workplaceviolence, said the arbitrator. The grievances were dismissed and theterminations upheld.
“Mr. French was, even though he denied it, and in hiswords, on a ‘scab hunt’ while (Patterson and Veniot) made a bad situation worseby yelling ‘f---ing scab.’ Significantly, they did nothing to interrupt orinterfere with the physical assault. The specific participation of the three(workers), and their dishonesty in their evidence about it, justifiestermination on a just cause standard,” said the arbitrator.
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