Award Number 04-012

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Award Date:	2004-10-08
Arbitrator:	Starkman, D View awards by Starkman, D
Municipality:	York Region View awards from York Region
Region:	Central View awards from Central
Classifications:	Regional Policing Allowance, Interpretation
Grievor:	Association
Appearances:	B. Chercover and K. Aubrey, for the Association, for the Association L. Siraco and G. Sutton, for the Employer, for the Employer
Length of Award:	14 pp
Collective Agreements Cit.	MOU 7/03; Art. 1.2, 6, 12, 16 & 26; Sch. C
Statutory Cit.	Police Services Act s. 51(2); def. of “member”

Summary

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Regional Policing Allowance   - Calculation - Uniform members - Allowance based on “service” - “Service” not including service as cadet or civilian member - Grievance dismissed.

Interpretation   - “Service” - Uniform members - New provision for Regional Policing Allowance - Calculation based on “service” - “Service” defined under collective agreement as commencing from “date of being sworn into office” - “Sworn into office” referring to oath taken by police officers, not oath of confidentiality taken by officers, cadets and civilians - “Service” for purpose of calculating RPA to be counted from date person sworn into office as police officer - Grievance dismissed.

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Facts

The Association brought a grievance challenging the Board’s calculation of the new Regional Policing Allowance. Pursuant to a Memorandum of Settlement dated July 2003, the parties agreed to a Regional Policing Allowance, applicable to all uniform classifications, expressed as percentages of 1st Class Constable pay, with entitlement based on threshold years of service: after 8, 17 and 23 years. The Memorandum stated that “service” for the purposes of the RPA shall mean “…service with York Regional Police as defined in the Uniform Working Agreement.”

Article 1.2 of the collective agreement stated that service “shall commence and be computed from the date of being sworn into office and shall mean continuous service as a member of the York Regional Police …” Article 1.1 provided that “member” means “…a member presently and hereinafter appointed to the York Regional Police holding office under oath according to statute.”

Schedule C to the collective agreement, in reference to salaries, included a notation that the Senior Constable premium was replaced by the Regional Policing Allowance effective July 1, 2003.

Argument

The Association argued that “service” for the purposes of calculating the RPA meant all service with the force, including service as a cadet and as a civilian. The Association maintained that the RPA was to be based on the totality of an officer’s service, as had been the case with the senior constable premium, which was replaced by the RPA. Reference was made to the definition of “member” under the Police Services Act, as including employees other than police officers, in the case of municipal forces, as well as cadets. The Association submitted that “sworn into office” meant the oath of confidentiality that cadets and civilian employees, in addition to police officers, were required to swear upon commencement of employment.

The Board contended that “sworn into office” meant sworn in as police officers, and that the RPA included service from that point in time. The Board argued that “service” should be interpreted restrictively, except where the parties specifically provided a broader definition, such as in the second part of Art. 1.2, which stated that for the purposes of Articles 6, 12 and 16 (sick leave, vacation entitlement and service pay premiums, respectively), “service means continuous service.”

Award #

Cadets, special constables, police officers and civilian employees all swore or affirmed an oath of confidentiality upon commencing employment. However, only police officers swore an oath to perform the duties of a police officer. The linkage between “sworn in” and the holding of office was explicit in both Art. 1.1 and 1.2. The linkage was evidently intentional, and thus in Art. 1.2 when the parties spoke of service as dating from “being sworn into office”, they meant the oath of duty taken by police officers, and not the oath of confidentiality taken by all employees. The conclusion that “service” referred to service from the date a person was sworn into office as a police officer was reinforced by the second sentence of Art. 1.2, which would be superfluous if the Association’s interpretation prevailed. Instead, the parties had made it clear in Art. 1.2 that for purposes of sick leave gratuities, vacation entitlement and service pay premiums, service meant continuous and entire service. By contrast, for the purposes of the Regional Policing Allowance, service was to be calculated from the date of being sworn in as a police officer, and did not include service as a cadet or civilian member with the force.

Grievance dismissed.

Authorities Cited

· Re Weyerhaeuser Chapleau and IWA-Canada, Local 2995 (2001), 98 L.A.C. (4th) 150 (Tacon)

· Re City of Richmond and Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 718 (1995), 52 L.A.C. (4th) 380 (Thompson)

· Re Medis Health and Pharmaceutical Services Ltd. and Teamsters, Chemical and Allied Workers, Local 424 (2000), 93 L.A.C. (4th) 118 (Armstrong)

· Re Sutton Place Hoteal and USWA (2001), 107 L.A.C. (4th) 370 (Armstrong)

· Ivaco Rolling Mills v. USWA, Local 7940 [2001], O.L.A.A. No. 867 (Bendel)

· Re Lear Seating Canada Ltd. and CAW, Local 1524 (1992), 30 L.A.C. (4th) 143 (Kennedy)

· Re Ipsco Inc. and International Assn of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental & Reinforcing Iron Workers, Shopmens Local Union No. 805 (2004), 124 L.A.C. (4th) 403 (Warren)

· Re Brandon General Hospital and Manitoba Nurses Union, Local 4 (1996), 56 L.A.C. (4th) 174 (Chapman)

· Re Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre and Hospital Employees’ Union, Local 180 (1996), 54 L.A.C. (4th) 35 (Morrison)

· Re Delta Toronto East Hotel and Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees Union, Local 75 (2001), 98 L.A.C. (4th) (Swan)

· Re Fanshawe College and Ontario Public Service Employees Union (1982), 4 L.A.C. (3d) 10 (Swinton)

· Government of the Province of Alberta and Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (Gaudette) (1994), 40 L.A.C. (4th) 30 (Moreau)

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