Leaves issue should be 'settled at bargaining table': Arbitrator
Despite being granted leave in the past from her regular job at a Saskatoon school, a school administrator was suddenly turned down for a leave to work for the union.
Raylene Stromberg worked 18 years at Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools (GSCS) when Mary Ellen Gennutt, administrative assistant with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 2268, wrote a letter requesting Stromberg “take a leave of absence from Bethlehem Catholic High School to work in the CUPE Saskatoon area office from March 30 to April 10, 2015.”
It was Stromberg’s third such request in the previous six months.
But Al Boutin, superintendent of human resource services, denied the request.
“Providing leave to GSCS employees to facilitate casual support-staff needs of CUPE National has the potential to significantly and negatively impact day-to-day operations at the site of the absent employee and/or other sites within Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools,” wrote Boutin in a May 4 letter to the union.
“These provisions were never intended to provide a pool of CUPE casual staff for CUPE National employee short-term vacation or sick-leave requirements,” wrote Boutin
On Aug. 11, Greg Chatlain, director of education, wrote another letter to the union requesting a minimum 30-day period be instituted for any leaves for union work.
The union grieved the denial on April 24 and said the employer violated the collective agreement clause about union leaves.
Leave was approved previously for three different times in 2014 and 2015 for Stromberg, and two other school employees including Donna Erdman, who took time off for 11 different periods in 2013 and 2014.
Arbitrator William Hood upheld the grievance. “If short-term leaves are too disruptive to the employer, then this is to be settled at the bargaining table. The employer shall make the grievor whole for any compensation lost when her union leave request was denied.”
The collective agreement includes specific language which means “there is no discretion. Compare this to the professional development leave, extended leave, and lay ministry leave where there is a discretion. In these circumstances the ‘leave may be granted,’ rather than ‘shall be granted’,” said Hood. “There is no ambiguity in article 30 of the collective agreement and, therefore, it would be inappropriate to resort to the evidence of past conduct of the employer in granting short-term union leaves.”
The school board’s request to impose a minimum period of leave was not specified in the agreement either, so it cannot be applied after the fact, according to Hood. “There is no minimum-notice requirement. Compare this to the presidential leave where the application for leave requires notice of the leave be provided a minimum of one month in advance of the school year.”
Despite the employer’s arguments, the short stint Stromberg asked for cannot be considered as temporary or casual, said Hood.
“Stromberg can be in a full-time position even if the position is temporary; in this case, from March 30 to April 15. The evidence does not specifically cover the hours of work expected of Stromberg for this position with the union. However, the evidence is that Stromberg was selected by the union to fill in for a vacationing union employee at the Saskatoon CUPE office.
"In our view, it is reasonable to conclude that this was a full-time position with the union” said Hood.
Reference: Board of Education of St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Separate School Division Number 20 of Saskatchewan (Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools) and Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 2268. William Hood — arbitrator. Geraldine Knudsen for the employer. Janice Janzen for the employee. May 29, 2017.
