Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - REPORT_NO378, June 2016

Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body

1. 18. The Committee last examined this case at its March 2015 meeting [374th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 323rd Session, paras 25–30]. On that occasion, the Committee expressed its concern at what appeared to be a very lengthy process of certification of a collective bargaining agent for the part-time staff employed at community colleges in Ontario. In the absence of any new information on the developments following the 2013 decisions of the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB), the Committee requested the Government to review, in consultations with the social partners, the provisions of the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act (CCBA), 2008 so as to ensure that the procedures in place are not prone to excessive delays and manipulation that might effectively impede the right of part-time employees to bargain collectively. The Committee also requested the Government to indicate the manner in which part-time academic and support staff employed in Ontario’s public colleges could exercise their collective bargaining rights.
2. 19. In a communication dated 14 August 2015 transmitted by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario recalls the background to this case as follows. In December 2008, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) filed a certification application to represent part-time and sessional faculty at Ontario’s 24 colleges. In July 2009, the OPSEU filed an application to represent part-time support staff at colleges. In both certification applications, secret ballot votes supervised by the OLRB were conducted. The ballot boxes were sealed pending the resolution of issues around whether the OPSEU met the 35 per cent threshold of signed membership cards needed to hold a certification vote under the CCBA. Between 2010 and 2013, the OLRB issued a number of rulings providing direction and clarity around who should and should not be counted as part of the bargaining units for the purposes of determining whether the 35 per cent threshold was met. On 12 August 2013, the OLRB ruled that the union had filed membership cards from fewer than 35 per cent of the members of each bargaining unit, and as such dismissed the applications for certification. The ballot boxes were destroyed without counting the votes.
3. 20. The Government of Ontario reiterates that the CCBA provides part-time academic staff and part-time support staff at Ontario colleges of applied arts and technology with the statutory right to join a trade union and to participate in its lawful activities. The CCBA sets out a certification process by which a union may secure the right to represent the employees in a bargaining unit. The certification process under the CCBA seeks to balance interests and ensure that employees’ true preferences are respected. The OLRB, which is an independent quasi-judicial tribunal with expertise in labour relations, has responsibility for resolving disputes that may arise between the parties during the certification process, and for determining when, and/or if, there is undue or unfair delay in the certification process. The certification process in the CCBA is modelled on the process in place for other workers in Ontario who are covered by the Labour Relations Act (LRA), 1995, which is similar to that found in other Canadian jurisdictions. Given its similarity to the LRA process, it is the view of the Ontario Government that the CCBA’s certification process does not impede the right of part-time employees at Ontario colleges of applied arts and technology. As such, a review is not being considered at this time.
4. 21. The Government of Ontario further indicates that per the CCBA, an employee organization may apply at any time to the OLRB for certification as the bargaining agent for a bargaining unit that has no certified bargaining agent or collective agreements. An employee organization must wait one year following the dismissal of an application for certification by the OLRB to apply for certification as the bargaining agent for the bargaining unit that was the subject of the OLRB dismissal. The Government of Ontario points out that with respect to academic and support staff at Ontario colleges of applied arts and technology, more than a year has passed since the OLRB dismissed the applications for certification, and nothing is preventing an employee organization from organizing an application for certification to represent either of the part-time college staff bargaining units.
5. 22. The Committee takes due note of the Government of Ontario’s reply. The Committee moreover observes that collective agreements between the College Employer Council (for colleges of applied arts and technology) and the OPSEU have been concluded with regard to support staff employees (valid from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2018) and academic employees, including those employed on a part-time or seasonal basis (valid from 1 September 2014 to 30 September 2017).