Order No.: 11712-U
IN THE MATTER OF THE
Canada Labour Code
- and -
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 175,
applicant,
- and -
Perimeter Aviation LP,
Winnipeg, Manitoba,
employer.
WHEREAS the Canada Industrial Relations Board (the Board) has received an application for certification pursuant to section 24(1) of the Canada Labour Code (the Code) from the applicant seeking certification as bargaining agent for a unit of employees of Perimeter Aviation LP comprising:
all employees of Perimeter Aviation in the City of North Bay, save and except supervisors and persons above the rank of supervisor.
AND WHEREAS the employer is not opposed to this application but does not agree with the bargaining unit description proposed by the applicant;
AND WHEREAS the employer submits that all employees currently employed at its North Bay, Ontario, location are customer service agents;
AND WHEREAS the employer submits that the applicant currently represents customer service agents at other employer locations and that there are similarities between the proposed bargaining unit at this location and the bargaining units at each of the other locations;
AND WHEREAS the employer submits that unlike the bargaining unit description proposed in the present application, the bargaining unit descriptions at some of these other locations exclude office and clerical staff;
AND WHEREAS the employer therefore submits that an appropriate bargaining unit description would be:
all customer service agents employed by Perimeter Aviation LP (doing business as Bearskin Airlines) in the City of North Bay, Ontario, excluding office and clerical staff, supervisors and those above the rank of supervisor.
AND WHEREAS the applicant is opposed to the exclusion of the positions from the bargaining unit description proposed by the employer and notes that no one is employed in those proposed excluded positions in North Bay;
AND WHEREAS the applicant submits that an all-employee bargaining unit is consistent with the Board’s preference for broader bargaining units;
AND WHEREAS, subsequent to its application, the applicant has indicated its wish to amend, as follows, the description of the bargaining unit for which it is seeking certification:
all employees of Perimeter Aviation LP in the City of North Bay, Ontario, excluding supervisors and persons above the rank of supervisor.
AND WHEREAS the parties agree that the bargaining unit description should list the employer’s name as Perimeter Aviation LP (doing business as Bearskin Airlines);
AND WHEREAS, following investigation of the application and consideration of the submissions of the parties concerned, the Board was not persuaded by the employer’s argument regarding similarities between the proposed bargaining unit at this location and the bargaining units at each of the other employer locations;
AND WHEREAS the Board agrees with the applicant’s submission that its proposed all-employee unit is consistent with the Board’s preference for broader bargaining units;
AND WHEREAS, in determining the appropriateness of a bargaining unit, the Board need not find the most appropriate unit;
AND WHEREAS the Board has found the applicant to be a trade union within the meaning of the Code, has determined the unit described hereunder to be appropriate for collective bargaining and is satisfied that a majority of the employees of the employer in the unit wish to have the applicant trade union represent them as their bargaining agent.
NOW, THEREFORE, it is ordered by the Canada Industrial Relations Board that the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 175 be, and it is hereby certified to be, the bargaining agent for a unit comprising:
all employees of Perimeter Aviation LP (doing business as Bearskin Airlines) in the city of North Bay, Ontario, excluding supervisors and persons above the rank of supervisor.
ISSUED at Ottawa, this 19th day of April, 2022, by the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
Roland A. Hackl
Vice-Chairperson
Reference: File No. 035553-C