In an award dated July 30, 2015 [1] (“CSDCEO Award”), Arbitrator Rowan held that the 97-day delay in salary grid movement for teachers, imposed in various teacher collective agreements by a centrally agreed Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”), was subject to the statutory freeze in the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (the “LRA”). Therefore, the provision could not…
Industry: School Boards
School Boards
School boards have faced a monumental change with the move to a tri-party central bargaining structure that now runs in parallel with local bargaining. This is a significant departure from how collective bargaining has historically occurred in the sector—with a number of challenges as parties work through the new system. Hicks Morley has been at…
Education Today Publishes an Article Authored by Michael Hines
Hicks Morley’s Michael Hines authored an article in the Summer 2015 edition of Education Today entitled, “School Closures: Some Common Questions Answered”. The article highlights six commonly asked questions about the legal challenges that schools face when making decisions about school closures, while providing clarification and best practices for each. Michael states that “Ontario courts…
OSSTF Found to Have Engaged in Unlawful Local Strikes
In its decision released on May 26, 2015, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (the “OLRB”) ruled that the ongoing Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (“OSSTF”) teacher strikes occurring at the Durham, Peel and Rainbow District School Boards were unlawful. This conclusion was reached on the basis that the scheme of the School Boards Collective Bargaining…
Province Introduces Back-to-Work Legislation
On May 25, 2015, the Ontario government introduced Bill 103, the Protecting the School Year Act, 2015. Bill 103 is back-to-work legislation intended to bring an end to ongoing strikes at three school boards – the Durham District School Board, the Peel District School Board and the Rainbow District School Board (collectively, the “School Boards”)….
Michael Hines Quoted in the Toronto Star
Hicks Morley’s Michael Hines was quoted in a May 20, 2015 Toronto Star article entitled “New bargaining law unclear on teacher strikes, hearing told“. The article refers to a ruling on whether three Ontario high school strikes are illegal, based on a new law that does not seem to clearly ban local strikes over centrally…
HRTO Clarifies the Scope of Employer and Service Provider Code Obligations
Two recent decisions from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) provide helpful guidance on the scope of employer and service provider obligations under the Human Rights Code (“Code”), including the proper scope of the duty to accommodate and the question of who may bring a Code application. In this FTR Now, we review these…
OLRB Refuses to hear CUPE Job Security Complaint
In a significant unfair labour practice case, Canadian Union of Public Employees v. Algoma District School Board, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (“OLRB”) held that CUPE’s complaints regarding the alleged alteration of employment terms by ten school boards during the statutory freeze period had to proceed through local grievance and arbitration procedures, rather than as an…
HRTO Decision Granting Significant Remedies Upheld on Appeal
The Divisional Court has upheld a decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in which the Tribunal ordered significant damages against the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and also ordered reinstatement of an employee after an almost decade-long absence from the workplace. The Court agreed with the applicant’s submission that “the goal of the remedial provisions of the Code ought not to…
Arbitrator Rules that Collective Agreements Include Memoranda of Understanding
Arbitrator George Surdykowski has rendered a significant award in which he concludes that the Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) between the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (“OECTA”) and the Ontario Government formed part of a school board’s 2012-14 collective agreements with OECTA. This award addresses an outstanding issue about the status of the collective agreements imposed…