Michael Lynk - Last-chance agreements

Last chance agreements

The final point has to do with last chance agreements

This is another issue arbitrators are constantly grappling with

As to when you honour a last chance agreement signed between

an employer and a union and when you say they breached human rights standards

The normal pattern or stance is that last chance agreements

are a considered effort and an agreement made by a union and an employer

to address a particular workplace issue.

In 90 to 95 per cent of cases arbitrators are going to recognize

and legitimize that agreement between the employer and the union.

They may ask themselves were the terms of the last chance agreement

kept or not, but by and large they will respect the agreement that's been reached.

But there are cases where last chance agreements will fail because

it does not respect human rights.

A December 2009 case at Coca Cola in Ontario decided by arbitrator Chauvin

where he found that someone who had been put on a last chance agreement

because he threw a telephone and broke it

in a time of great acute stress in his life. His wive was suffering from cancer,

he himself was suffering from depression and serious financial issues.

He was fired for an outbreak after he had been taunted and harassed

by some of his fellow workers, even called homophobic names and other slurs

of a sexual nature referring to his closeness with management.

He snapped. He punched someone in the mouth and was fired because of this

last chance agreement.

And the issue before the arbitrator was whether the last chance agreement

should be upheld or whether it violated human rights.

And in this case the arbitrator found that it violated human rights

because it didn't properly recognize the disabilities

that particular grievor was suffering from.

Because of that the dismissal was put aside, the last chance agreement

was put aside and there was a 20 day suspension substituted.

These are the creative ways in which human rights is moving and intertwining

with all aspects of labour law and labour arbitration.

These are the sorts of issues that you as union stewards

always have to have at the front of your mind

when facing particular issues in the workplace.

Because there is a significant legal duty on you to be able

to represent members. You know the duty of fair representation.

That duty is actually heightened on a union

when it involves a human rights issue

and one of your members.