FPSLREB Decisions

[1] This decision concerns a joint application dated June 9, 2003, by the Canadian Union of Professional and Technical Employees (CUPTE) and the Social Science Employees Association (SSEA) under section 49 of the Public Service Staff Relations Act (the Act) to have the Board recognize the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) as their successor as the certified bargaining agent for their combined membership.

[2] Section 49 of the Act provides as follows:

Successor Rights

49.(1) Where, by reason of a merger or an amalgamation of employee organizations or a transfer of jurisdiction among employee organizations otherwise than as a result of a revocation of certification, an employee organization succeeds another employee organization that, at the time of the merger, amalgamation or transfer of jurisdiction, is a bargaining agent, the successor shall be deemed to have acquired the rights, privileges and duties of its predecessor, whether under a collective agreement, arbitral award or otherwise.

(2) Where, on a merger, amalgamation or transfer of jurisdiction referred to in subsection (1), any question arises concerning the rights, privileges and duties of an employee organization under this Act or under a collective agreement or arbitral award in respect of a bargaining unit or an employee therein, the Board, on application to it by the employer or any person or employee organization concerned, shall determine what rights, privileges and duties have been acquired or are retained.

(3) Before making a determination under subsection (2), the Board may make such inquiry or direct that such representation votes be taken among the employees to be affected by the determination as the board considers necessary, and in relation to the taking of any such vote the provisions of subsection 36(3) apply.

[3] At this point, a brief and admittedly abbreviated history of the two bargaining agents involved in this application is in order.

[4] On December 17, 1968, a certificate was issued to the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) covering all employees of the employer in the Economics, Sociology and Statistics Group (ESS) in the Scientific and Professional Category. On June 1, 1974, the newly-formed Economists', Sociologists' and Statisticians' Association (ESSA) applied to the Board to replace PIPSC as the bargaining agent for the ESS group. The Board ordered a representation vote and following the vote, on August 21, 1975, certified ESSA as the bargaining agent for the aforementioned bargaining unit (Board file 142-2-150).

[5] On March 19, 1990, the Board certified ESSA as the bargaining agent for all employees in the research officer and research assistant sub-groups in the research and library services group at the Library of Parliament (Board file 442-LP-13).

[6] On February 4, 1994, the Board certified ESSA as the bargaining agent for all employees of the Treasury Board in the SI or Social Science Support Group (Board file 142-2-311).

[7] The SI group was combined with the ES group and is now known as the EC or Economics and Social Science Services group.

[8] In October of 1994, the Economists', Sociologists' and Statisticians' Association, or ESSA, changed names and became the Social Science Employees Association or SSEA.

[9] On February 26, 1968, the Board issued a certificate to the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), certifying it as the bargaining agent for all employees of the Treasury Board in the Translation Group (TR) in the Administrative and Foreign Service Category.

[10] In 1978, CUPTE applied to replace PIPSC as the bargaining agent for all employees in the TR group. On July 25, 1978, the Board certified the Canadian Union of Professional and Technical Employees as the bargaining agent for the bargaining unit consisting of all employees of the Treasury Board in the Translation (TR) group (Board file 144-2-170) after having ordered a representation vote and having been satisfied that the applicant had obtained a majority of the votes.

[11] On June 9, 2003, SSEA and CUPTE jointly wrote to the Board, informing it that they had recently concluded constitutionally mandated processes within each organization which resulted in the formation of a new public service union to represent their combined memberships, to be called the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE). Mr. Bill Krause, the President of SSEA, and Mr. Luc Pomerleau, the CUPTE TR Group President, applied to have the Board recognize CAPE as the successor and assign thereto their rights, privileges and duties as bargaining agents under subsection 49(1) of the Act. Both CUPTE and SSEA asked the Board to confirm their position on the application of subsection 49(1) to their requests and, in support of their application, they enclosed a copy of a joint press release, as well as the Constitution for the new organization.

[12] On June 25, 2003, the Board advised the parties that their application would be dealt with under subsection 49(2) of the Act and that pursuant to subsection 49(3), the Board would appoint a fact-finder to inquire into the circumstances of the amalgamation of their organizations and report to the Board. The Board appointed Messrs. Guy Baron and Gilles Grenier as fact-finders and on July 16, 2003, a letter went out to both organizations, requesting a meeting to discuss the amalgamation process and requesting a variety of documentation including the dates, times and locations of information meetings with the membership to discuss amalgamation plans; copies of voting procedures and eligibility criteria; dates, times and locations of votes; a copy of the procedure for tabulating votes and data concerning the number of members in each organization on the day of the vote. The requested documentation was provided by CUPTE on July 23, 2003, and by SSEA on August 1, 2003.

[13] According to telephone conversations and information provided by Mr. Luc Pomerleau, it was established that CUPTE members are not required to vote on an amalgamation and that decisions of this nature are the responsibility of the CUPTE Executive. That fact notwithstanding, CUPTE carried out a consultation process with its members and held four consultation meetings in Montréal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto. Documentation, ballots and stamped return envelopes were mailed to all CUPTE members in good standing on March 28, 2003, and the results of the consultation were announced on April 22, 2003: 509 ballots were received; 454 members voted for the amalgamation and 51 members voted against, with four ballots being rejected or cancelled. This decision was duly ratified by the delegates at the CUPTE Biennial Convention held on April 28, 2003.

[14] As for SSEA, a meeting with the Board's fact-finders was held on August 29, 2003, with Mr. Bill Krause, President, and Mr. Claude Danik, Director of Professional Services. In accordance with SSEA by-laws, only regular and holding members may vote. All members with a right to vote received a voting kit, including information on the proposed amalgamation as well as a ballot. The votes were counted on April 22, 2003, and the results were as follows: 757 votes were in favour of the amalgamation; 455 votes were against the amalgamation; 38 ballots were rejected and 4 ballots were cancelled.

[15] On the basis of the file before it, the Board recognizes that the SSEA and the CUPTE have merged. The Board also agrees that CAPE is an employee organization within the meaning of section 2 of the Act. The CAPE has shown that a majority vote of employees in the bargaining units support the merger.

[16] The merger agreement indicates that the bargaining rights of CUPTE and SSEA in respect of the Economics and Social Sciences Services and the Translation Groups, and all of their rights, privileges and duties under any statute or agreement, are transferred to the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE).

[17] For these reasons, the application is allowed and CAPE is certified as the bargaining agent for the Economics and Social Sciences Services Group and the Translation Group.

[18] Amended certificates will be issued.

Yvon Tarte,
Chairperson

OTTAWA, October 9, 2003.