Tuesday, July 07, 2015
On June 18, 2015, AMAPCEO and the Employer for the Ontario Public Service met with Vice-Chair Dissanayake for the first day of arbitration regarding an outstanding policy dispute.
AMAPCEO filed the policy dispute in 2014 because of the Employer’s unilateral decision to cancel Alternative Work Arrangements for employees in the Provincial Highways Management Division of the Ministry of Transportation, which is negatively affecting approximately 170 AMAPCEO members.
During the first day of hearings, the parties to the dispute, AMAPCEO and the OPS Employer, dealt with several preliminary issues, including an agreed statement of facts and an approach to dealing with the case.
Five additional arbitration dates have been scheduled and will begin on December 8, 2015.
Upon AMAPCEO’s request, the OPS Employer agreed to provide AMAPCEO with the particulars of its case by September 15, 2015. In turn, AMAPCEO agreed to provide the Employer with its particulars by November 15, 2015.
Background on the dispute:
- On March 24, 2014, the Ministry of Transportation formally announced a division-wide cancellation of Alternative Working Arrangements (AWAs) in the Provincial Highways Management Divisions (PHM) of the MTO.
- On April 23, 2014, AMAPCEO filed a policy dispute challenging the Employer’s action.
- On June 6, 2014, the parties held a Stage Two dispute meeting to discuss the matter. At that meeting, the Employer shared very little new information.
- On June 11, 2014, the Employer Designee at Stage Two denied the Association’s dispute, citing no rationale.
- On July 2, 2014, AMAPCEO referred the dispute to the Grievance Settlement Board (GSB) for arbitration.
- On June 8, 2015, prior to the first date of arbitration, as is common practice, the Employer provided AMAPCEO with some of the particulars of its case.
AMAPCEO will continue to provide regular updates as the arbitration process unfolds.