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Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/1296787
found both Klapatiuk and anoth-
er driver in the warehouse. Klapa-
tiuk said "We can't f---ing hot
load" the pulp and that it was "too
much." He didn't raise his voice
but he had a frustrated tone.
The supervisor said that if it
was too much, they could put the
pulp on the floor and load the rail
car from there instead of directly
from the production line, but the
other driver said it was too much
work for one day. Klapatiuk told
he supervisor, "No offence… but
you don't f---ing know how to do
the job." The other driver became
agitated and swore, and Klapatiuk
tried to smooth things over by
saying "It's OK… we're just frus-
trated."
The supervisor reported the
exchange to Cariboo manage-
ment, saying that both drivers
sounded frustrated but the other
driver yelled and used profanity.
Afterwards, she was upset and
said she had to hold back tears.
She went home after her boss told
her she didn't have to be at work
when she was treated like that.
The fibre line manager learned
of the incident and assigned the
shift supervisor to investigate.
The shift supervisor met with
both drivers. Klapatiuk admit-
ted to using the work "bitch" in
reference to the supervisor when
talking to the coworker but said
the supervisor didn't understand
how loading rail cars worked. He
said he was willing to apologize
and felt sorry for how things hap-
pened, though he didn't feel re-
sponsible for what the other driv-
er said and he felt that it wasn't
"that big a deal." He also said he
may have used profanity but it
wasn't directed at the supervisor
and he had tried to de-escalate the
situation.
On Aug. 30, Cariboo suspend-
ed Klapatiuk for 3.5 days without
pay for violating the company's
bullying and harassment policy.
The other driver received the
same suspension.
The union grieved the suspen-
sion, arguing that it was an exces-
sive amount of discipline.
The arbitrator found that some
of Klapatiuk's language and tone
that he used towards the super-
visor and coworker was bullying
behaviour, but Klapatiuk showed
"appropriate insight into the na-
ture and gravity of his miscon-
duct" during the investigative
interview. He didn't try to hide his
misconduct as he admitted what
he said.
The arbitrator also found that
Klapatiuk tried to de-escalate
the situation and spoke to the
supervisor with "self-control
and awareness that the exchange
was hurtful" while the other
driver acted more aggressively,
and he expressed remorse and a
willingness to apologize after-
wards. However, Cariboo didn't
distinguish between Klapatiuk's
behaviour and that of the other
driver.
The arbitrator set aside the 3.5-
day suspension and substituted a
one-day suspension in its place,
adding that such a suspension
should be enough to make the
point that "a repeat of this behav-
iour will carry much more serious
consequences."
Reference: Cariboo Pulp and Paper and Unifor, Local 1115. Arne Peltz — arbitrator. Don Jordan, for employer. Craig Bavis
for employee. July 13, 2020. 2020 CarswellBC 2282
Worker later expressed remorse for comments
Collective agreement allowed for single steward
appoint one for the carpet divi-
sion and one for the hardwood
division if there were employees
or piecework/subcontractors
working in each. The agreement
stipulated that the piecework
crew upon which the steward was
a member would be one of the last
two crews employed in the event
of layoffs.
In April 2017, QSG concluded
a share purchase of Weston Hard-
wood Design Centre, a supplier
and installer of flooring, which
had the same union as QSG. QSG
entered into a single collective
agreement covering employees of
both companies and the Ontario
Labour Board confirmed that an
intermingling of employees due
to the sale of a business had oc-
curred.
Just prior to the sale, the union
had appointed Herbert Diaz as a
steward for Weston's hardwood
division. The appointment car-
ried over to QSG.
In October 2017, the union
informed QSG by letter that it
was appointing Jose Hernandez
as steward under the collective
agreement. Like Diaz, Hernandez
worked as a pieceworker in the
hardwood division. QSG didn't
respond to the letter and didn't
make any inquiries about Diaz's
status.
On Nov. 25, 2019, QSG laid off
Hernandez. At the time, more
than two other pieceworkers and
their crews were still working for
the company, including Diaz.
The union filed a grievance,
arguing that Hernandez was a
steward who had been appointed
without dispute from the com-
pany and, under the collective
agreement, he could not be laid
off while there were more than
two piecework crews still per-
forming work for QSG.
QSG disagreed, pointing out
that the collective agreement al-
lowed for a single steward unless
there were employees or sub-
contractors working in both the
hardwood and carpet divisions.
At the time of Hernandez's layoff,
there were no employees working
in the carpet division.
The arbitrator found that both
Diaz and Hernandez worked in
the hardwood division and Diaz
was appointed as a steward with
Weston. When the workforce
merged, Diaz became the steward
for the merged hardwood work-
force, as there was no existing
steward in QSG's hardwood divi-
sion at the time, said the arbitra-
tor.
The arbitrator found that
Diaz's appointment was never
revoked and the collective agree-
ment didn't permit the union
to appoint two stewards for the
hardwood division. As a result,
Hernandez could not be a stew-
ard as long as Diaz was still in the
role.
The arbitrator pointed out that
the union was only entitled to
appoint a second steward when
there were employees or subcon-
tractors working in the carpet di-
vision as well as the hardwood di-
vision, which was not the case at
the time of Hernandez's appoint-
ment. Even if there were workers
in the carpet division when Her-
nandez was appointed, as soon
as there were none, his status as a
steward would end, said the arbi-
trator.
"[Hernandez] therefore was
not properly appointed as a
steward in the hardwood divi-
sion and there is no support for
the proposition that [his] ap-
pointment revokes the prior ap-
pointment of Diaz as steward,"
said the arbitrator, adding that it
didn't matter that QSG didn't ob-
ject to Hernandez's appointment
when informed by the union
since the collective agreement
didn't require the company to re-
spond.
The arbitrator noted that since
Diaz continued to be a steward af-
ter Hernandez's layoff, there was
no detrimental effect from the
layoff and the union still had its
interests represented.
The arbitrator determined that
QSG didn't breach the collective
agreement when it laid off Her-
nandez.
Reference: LiUNA, Local 183 and Quality Sterling Group. Robert Kitchen — arbitrator. Joseph Liberman for
employer. Neil Keating for union. Aug. 19, 2020. 2020 CarswellOnt 12930