Union representing both full and part-time employees files grievance
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 543 filed a grievance against the Huron Lodge in Windsor, Ont., when full-time workers were laid off and replaced with part-time workers. The union represents both full and part-time employees.
In the spring of 2012 the employer laid off a number of full-time staff while, at the same time, increasing the number of part-time staff. The union argued the Lodge — operated by the City of Windsor — violated the collective agreement by replacing full-time employees with part-time workers.
For many years the Lodge operated in a facility that housed 256 residents. In 2007, the Lodge moved to a new building with accommodation for only 224 residents. There was no reduction in staff at the time of the move but, in 2011 and early 2012, administrator Lucie Lombardo was asked to review the Lodge’s operations as part of preparation for a budget proposal that would reduce the employer’s share of the cost of running the Lodge.
Lombardo testified she used a report from the Ontario Municipal Chief Administrative Officers’ Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI) comparing municipal long-term care facilities as part of her review of the Lodge. The OMBI report indicated the Lodge’s operating costs in 2010 were significantly higher than those of comparable long-term care homes.
The proposed budget included the layoff of 21 full-time staff positions and the addition of 14 part-time positions.
Lombardo agreed she could not testify as to the accuracy of the data provided to OMBI by other municipalities, but said there was a formula to follow and she had followed it. She testified the employer had not replaced full-time staff with part-time workers as the Lodge had always employed both full and part-time staff.
The union disagreed, citing the collective agreement. The agreement — printed in booklet form — includes a number of letters of intent. One of the letters of intent states the employer "does not intend as a practice to replace full-time positions with part-time staff."
The union argued the letter of intent had been in existence for 20 years. The use of the word "practice" meant the employer could not replace full-time employees with part-time workers as a matter of policy.
The union asked the layoffs be voided and that the full-time employees be restored to their positions and compensated for all lost earnings. The employer argued the request to restore the former number of full-time staff suggests the number of full-time positions is fixed and could never change, when in fact the 2007 move to a new facility rearranged the nature of work at the Lodge.
The employer argued it did not replace full-time staff with part-time employees, but created a new mix of full and part-time workers. It is entitled to schedule employees to work when they are most needed, the employer said, and submitted the letter of intent was not part of the collective agreement and should not be used to interpret the collective agreement.
The employer further argued the word "practice" as it was used in the letter of intent meant a course of conduct and there was no evidence of a practice of replacing full-time with part-time employees.
Sole arbitrator Howard Snow concluded the letter of intent was not part of the collective agreement and therefore out of his jurisdiction, saying, "The fact that something is printed in the same booklet as a collective agreement is insufficient reason to consider it part of that agreement."
Snow went on to say the employer’s decision to reduce full-time staff while simultaneously adding part-time staff was made for valid business reasons and in good faith.
The grievance was dismissed.
Reference: The Corporation of the City of Windsor and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 543. Howard Snow — sole arbitrator. Patrick Brode for the employer. Stephen Krashinsky for the union. Oct. 25, 2013.
