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... ... ... _244) Hearinq Date of Award COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE IN THE MATTER OF THE POLICE ACT R.S.O. 1980, Chapter 381 AND IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION Between THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF COLLINGWOOD (hereinafter called the "Town") -and- THE COLLINGWOOD POLICE ASSOCIATION (CIVILIAN MEMBERS) (hereinafter called the "Association") AND IN THE MATTER OF AN INTEREST ARBITRATION Re: 1984 Civilian Personnel Agreement ARBITRATOR: DR. ARJUN P. AGGARWAL APPEARANCES: FOR THE TOWN: Mr. Stephen C. Bernardo - Counsel Mr. Carman Morrison - Town Administrator FOR THE ASSOCIATION: Const. Michael Chevers - President Ms. Cheryl Thomas - Civilian Representative The hearing in this matter was held on January 21, 1985, in Collingwood, Ontario.
Transcript
Page 1: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

_244) Hearinq Date of Award

COLLINGWOOD Feb 7 1985

80y -GOE IN THE MATTER OF THE POLICE ACT

RSO 1980 Chapter 381

AND IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION

Between

THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CORPORATIONOF THE TOWN OF COLLINGWOOD(hereinafter called the Town)

-and-

THE COLLINGWOOD POLICE ASSOCIATION (CIVILIAN MEMBERS)(hereinafter called the Association)

AND IN THE MATTER OF AN INTEREST ARBITRATION

Re 1984 Civilian Personnel Agreement

ARBITRATOR DR ARJUN P AGGARWAL

APPEARANCES

FOR THE TOWN

Mr Stephen C Bernardo - Counsel

Mr Carman Morrison - Town Administrator

FOR THE ASSOCIATION

Const Michael Chevers - President

Ms Cheryl Thomas - Civilian Representative

The hearing in this matter was held on January 21 1985

in Collingwood Ontario

AWARD

The undersigned was appointed by the Solicitor-

General Honourable George W Taylor QC on November

30 1984 pursuant to section 32 of the Police Act RSO

1980 Chapter 381 to act as an arbitrator to hear and

determine all matters in dispute between the parties

relating to their 1984 Collective Agreement negotiations

(Civilian Personnel) The hearing in this matter was held

in Collingwood Ontario on January 21 1985 At the outshy

set the representatives of the parties agreed that the

arbitrator had been properly appointed and that the time

limits prescribed by the Act for the commencement of the

arbitration hearing had been complied with It was further

agreed that I had the jurisdiction to deal with the matters

in dispute It was also agreed that the issues before

this arbitrator are for the Collective Agreement for the

year 1984 ie from 1st of January to 31st of December

1984

INTRODUCTION

The Township of Collingwood is situated in Central

Ontario in the County of Simcoe It is located approxishy

mately 150 kilometers Northwest of Toronto on the shore

-J-

of Georgian Bay The Town of Collingwood covers 82

square kilometers ranking it 4th in the Simcoe area behind

Barrie at 70 square kilometers Orillia at 115 square

kilometers and Midland at 114 square kilometers

The Town of Collingwood has a current population of

approximately 12000 Among the larger employers in

Collingwood are LOF Glass the Collingwood Shipyards

Harding Carpets Daal Specialties (now Bendex Restraint

System) Canadian Mist Distillers Kaufman of Collingwood

Goodyear Hose Plant Goodall Rubber the Town of Collingwood

and the Simcoe County Board of Education Collingwoods

secondary industry of course is tourism

The Town of Collingwood with its Blue Mountains is also a

famous ski resort for the Southern Ontario It draws a

large number of touristsiskiers in winter and campers in

summer from as far south of the border as Michigan and

New York

The Town of CollingwoodPolice Force is consisted of

18 uniform officers and 6 civilians as follows

- -- -- - - -- ----

-4shy

OFFICERS CIVILIANS

1 Police Chief 1 Clerk Stenographer

1 Staff Sargeant 5 Station-Operator-Typists

3 Sargeants

12 First Class Constables

1 Fourth Class Constable

The Collingwood Police Force (civilian employees)

receives telephone calls and complaints (and make dispatches)

not only for the Town of Collingwood but also for the

Township of Thornbury (The Township of Thornbury has its

own police force but no civilian employee) In other words

the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

discharge some of the civilian functions for both the police

forces - Collingwood and Thornbury For example in 1984

out of 10437 calls logged with the Collingwood Police Force

1822 calls were logged for the Police Force of Thornbury

The civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force belong to the Collingwood Police Association but they

bargain separately and have a separate collective agreement

In the past the parties have generally resolved their

differences mutually and reached to a settlement without

any outside help This is the first time the parties have

-5shy

failed to resolve their differences through negotiations

which led to this arbitration

The Association served the notice to bargain on June

20 1984 The parties entered into negotiations and had

three rounds of bargaining sessions on September 2 October

4 and October 16 1984 However the parties failed to

reach a settlement It is not clear whether or not the

parties sought the assistance of a conciliator to iron out

their differences

It appears that when the negotiations broke down

there were a number of issues unresolved between the parties

It also appears that the parties intended to put all those

unresolved issues before the arbitrator However Const

Cheversspokesman for the Association stated at the outset

of the hearing that the Association was seeking arbitrashy

tion award only on one issue - ie salaries This

statement surprized even the Towns Counsel Mr Bernardo

who had written a brief on a number of issuesi However the

parti~s finally agreed that the only issue before this

arbitrator is of salary for the year 1984 I assume

that all other issues have either been resolved between

the parties or withdrawn by the Association

-6shy

ISSUE - SALARY

The Association has demanded a 10 increase over the

1983 salaries across the board for all civilian employees

The Town on the other hand has offered a 5 increase for

all civilian employees The 1983 salary scale of the

civilian employees is as follows

Effective January i 1983 Annual

CLERKshy STENOGRAPHER

Start $1236000 After 1 year service $1378000 after 2 year service $1520000

Bonus re Intelligence Work 50000

STATION-OPERATOR-TYPIST

Start 1191000After 1 year service 1252500After 2 year service 1 1312500

STATION-OPERATOR

Start 1127000After 1 year service 1184000After 2 year service 1 1241000

It may be pointed out that presently the Collingwood Police

Force does not have any employee in the category of Stationshy

Operator As noted earlier that it has only one employee

in the classification of Clerk Stenographer and five emshy

ployees in the classification of Station-Operator-Typist

-7shy

THE ASSOCIATIONS POSITION

The Association in support of its claim has argued

that the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

department are the lowest paid employees among the Georgian

Bay police forces According to the Association the salshy

aries of the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force are 11 to 26 per cent behind the average salaries

of the civilian employees of the other Georgian Bay police

forces

SALARIES 1984

GEORGIAN BAY AREA FORCES

1 Barrie Secretary 1795500Stenographer 1624900Records Clerk 1624900CPIC Operator 1716200

2 Innisfil All Civilian EmployeesStart 1606800After 12 months 1648100After 24 months 17J2000After J6 months 1782J00

J Midland Civilian Radio Operator0-12 months 1186J4712-24 months 1J5J5JO24-over 14J7068

-8shy

Radio Operator and Records Radio Operator - Clerk 0-12 months12-24 months24-over

StenographerStation-Operator

Clerk-DispatcherStenographerClerk-Dispatcher IIStenographer IIClerk-Dispatcher IIIStenographer III

1617531

123647014035461487191

15488001701700

175270017527001656100165610015667001566700

123600013780001520000

4 Orillia

5 Owen Sound

6 Collingwood( 1983 ) Clerk

StartAfterAfter

Stenographer

1 year2 year

StartAfter yearAfter 2 year

Station-OperatorStartAfter 1 yearAfter 2 year

(Plus 50000 intelligencework)

Station-Operator-Typist119100012525001312500

112700011 84000 1241000

---

COLI I NG~OOD IS AVE RAGE FOR GEOHGI AN BAY FORCES

CATEGORY

STEiOGRAPHER (INCLUDES CATEGORIES DESIGNAT~D AS CLERK STENOSECRETARY CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CLERK DISPATCHERI (INCLUDES RECORDS

0I CIVILIAN RADIO

OPERATOR RECORDSCLERK STATIONOPERATOR TYPIST CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CPIC OPERATOR(INCLUDES CIVILIANRADIO OPERATORSTATION OPERATORCIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

COLI I NGlvOOD PERCENTAGE GEORGI iN BAY DIffERENCE FORCE 1983 5~ 1984 ~IONETJIY DI FfERENCE

1776800 1520000 1596000 180800 1133

1694358 1312500 1378125 316233 2294

1645189 1241000 1303050 342139 2626

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 2: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

AWARD

The undersigned was appointed by the Solicitor-

General Honourable George W Taylor QC on November

30 1984 pursuant to section 32 of the Police Act RSO

1980 Chapter 381 to act as an arbitrator to hear and

determine all matters in dispute between the parties

relating to their 1984 Collective Agreement negotiations

(Civilian Personnel) The hearing in this matter was held

in Collingwood Ontario on January 21 1985 At the outshy

set the representatives of the parties agreed that the

arbitrator had been properly appointed and that the time

limits prescribed by the Act for the commencement of the

arbitration hearing had been complied with It was further

agreed that I had the jurisdiction to deal with the matters

in dispute It was also agreed that the issues before

this arbitrator are for the Collective Agreement for the

year 1984 ie from 1st of January to 31st of December

1984

INTRODUCTION

The Township of Collingwood is situated in Central

Ontario in the County of Simcoe It is located approxishy

mately 150 kilometers Northwest of Toronto on the shore

-J-

of Georgian Bay The Town of Collingwood covers 82

square kilometers ranking it 4th in the Simcoe area behind

Barrie at 70 square kilometers Orillia at 115 square

kilometers and Midland at 114 square kilometers

The Town of Collingwood has a current population of

approximately 12000 Among the larger employers in

Collingwood are LOF Glass the Collingwood Shipyards

Harding Carpets Daal Specialties (now Bendex Restraint

System) Canadian Mist Distillers Kaufman of Collingwood

Goodyear Hose Plant Goodall Rubber the Town of Collingwood

and the Simcoe County Board of Education Collingwoods

secondary industry of course is tourism

The Town of Collingwood with its Blue Mountains is also a

famous ski resort for the Southern Ontario It draws a

large number of touristsiskiers in winter and campers in

summer from as far south of the border as Michigan and

New York

The Town of CollingwoodPolice Force is consisted of

18 uniform officers and 6 civilians as follows

- -- -- - - -- ----

-4shy

OFFICERS CIVILIANS

1 Police Chief 1 Clerk Stenographer

1 Staff Sargeant 5 Station-Operator-Typists

3 Sargeants

12 First Class Constables

1 Fourth Class Constable

The Collingwood Police Force (civilian employees)

receives telephone calls and complaints (and make dispatches)

not only for the Town of Collingwood but also for the

Township of Thornbury (The Township of Thornbury has its

own police force but no civilian employee) In other words

the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

discharge some of the civilian functions for both the police

forces - Collingwood and Thornbury For example in 1984

out of 10437 calls logged with the Collingwood Police Force

1822 calls were logged for the Police Force of Thornbury

The civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force belong to the Collingwood Police Association but they

bargain separately and have a separate collective agreement

In the past the parties have generally resolved their

differences mutually and reached to a settlement without

any outside help This is the first time the parties have

-5shy

failed to resolve their differences through negotiations

which led to this arbitration

The Association served the notice to bargain on June

20 1984 The parties entered into negotiations and had

three rounds of bargaining sessions on September 2 October

4 and October 16 1984 However the parties failed to

reach a settlement It is not clear whether or not the

parties sought the assistance of a conciliator to iron out

their differences

It appears that when the negotiations broke down

there were a number of issues unresolved between the parties

It also appears that the parties intended to put all those

unresolved issues before the arbitrator However Const

Cheversspokesman for the Association stated at the outset

of the hearing that the Association was seeking arbitrashy

tion award only on one issue - ie salaries This

statement surprized even the Towns Counsel Mr Bernardo

who had written a brief on a number of issuesi However the

parti~s finally agreed that the only issue before this

arbitrator is of salary for the year 1984 I assume

that all other issues have either been resolved between

the parties or withdrawn by the Association

-6shy

ISSUE - SALARY

The Association has demanded a 10 increase over the

1983 salaries across the board for all civilian employees

The Town on the other hand has offered a 5 increase for

all civilian employees The 1983 salary scale of the

civilian employees is as follows

Effective January i 1983 Annual

CLERKshy STENOGRAPHER

Start $1236000 After 1 year service $1378000 after 2 year service $1520000

Bonus re Intelligence Work 50000

STATION-OPERATOR-TYPIST

Start 1191000After 1 year service 1252500After 2 year service 1 1312500

STATION-OPERATOR

Start 1127000After 1 year service 1184000After 2 year service 1 1241000

It may be pointed out that presently the Collingwood Police

Force does not have any employee in the category of Stationshy

Operator As noted earlier that it has only one employee

in the classification of Clerk Stenographer and five emshy

ployees in the classification of Station-Operator-Typist

-7shy

THE ASSOCIATIONS POSITION

The Association in support of its claim has argued

that the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

department are the lowest paid employees among the Georgian

Bay police forces According to the Association the salshy

aries of the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force are 11 to 26 per cent behind the average salaries

of the civilian employees of the other Georgian Bay police

forces

SALARIES 1984

GEORGIAN BAY AREA FORCES

1 Barrie Secretary 1795500Stenographer 1624900Records Clerk 1624900CPIC Operator 1716200

2 Innisfil All Civilian EmployeesStart 1606800After 12 months 1648100After 24 months 17J2000After J6 months 1782J00

J Midland Civilian Radio Operator0-12 months 1186J4712-24 months 1J5J5JO24-over 14J7068

-8shy

Radio Operator and Records Radio Operator - Clerk 0-12 months12-24 months24-over

StenographerStation-Operator

Clerk-DispatcherStenographerClerk-Dispatcher IIStenographer IIClerk-Dispatcher IIIStenographer III

1617531

123647014035461487191

15488001701700

175270017527001656100165610015667001566700

123600013780001520000

4 Orillia

5 Owen Sound

6 Collingwood( 1983 ) Clerk

StartAfterAfter

Stenographer

1 year2 year

StartAfter yearAfter 2 year

Station-OperatorStartAfter 1 yearAfter 2 year

(Plus 50000 intelligencework)

Station-Operator-Typist119100012525001312500

112700011 84000 1241000

---

COLI I NG~OOD IS AVE RAGE FOR GEOHGI AN BAY FORCES

CATEGORY

STEiOGRAPHER (INCLUDES CATEGORIES DESIGNAT~D AS CLERK STENOSECRETARY CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CLERK DISPATCHERI (INCLUDES RECORDS

0I CIVILIAN RADIO

OPERATOR RECORDSCLERK STATIONOPERATOR TYPIST CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CPIC OPERATOR(INCLUDES CIVILIANRADIO OPERATORSTATION OPERATORCIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

COLI I NGlvOOD PERCENTAGE GEORGI iN BAY DIffERENCE FORCE 1983 5~ 1984 ~IONETJIY DI FfERENCE

1776800 1520000 1596000 180800 1133

1694358 1312500 1378125 316233 2294

1645189 1241000 1303050 342139 2626

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 3: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-J-

of Georgian Bay The Town of Collingwood covers 82

square kilometers ranking it 4th in the Simcoe area behind

Barrie at 70 square kilometers Orillia at 115 square

kilometers and Midland at 114 square kilometers

The Town of Collingwood has a current population of

approximately 12000 Among the larger employers in

Collingwood are LOF Glass the Collingwood Shipyards

Harding Carpets Daal Specialties (now Bendex Restraint

System) Canadian Mist Distillers Kaufman of Collingwood

Goodyear Hose Plant Goodall Rubber the Town of Collingwood

and the Simcoe County Board of Education Collingwoods

secondary industry of course is tourism

The Town of Collingwood with its Blue Mountains is also a

famous ski resort for the Southern Ontario It draws a

large number of touristsiskiers in winter and campers in

summer from as far south of the border as Michigan and

New York

The Town of CollingwoodPolice Force is consisted of

18 uniform officers and 6 civilians as follows

- -- -- - - -- ----

-4shy

OFFICERS CIVILIANS

1 Police Chief 1 Clerk Stenographer

1 Staff Sargeant 5 Station-Operator-Typists

3 Sargeants

12 First Class Constables

1 Fourth Class Constable

The Collingwood Police Force (civilian employees)

receives telephone calls and complaints (and make dispatches)

not only for the Town of Collingwood but also for the

Township of Thornbury (The Township of Thornbury has its

own police force but no civilian employee) In other words

the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

discharge some of the civilian functions for both the police

forces - Collingwood and Thornbury For example in 1984

out of 10437 calls logged with the Collingwood Police Force

1822 calls were logged for the Police Force of Thornbury

The civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force belong to the Collingwood Police Association but they

bargain separately and have a separate collective agreement

In the past the parties have generally resolved their

differences mutually and reached to a settlement without

any outside help This is the first time the parties have

-5shy

failed to resolve their differences through negotiations

which led to this arbitration

The Association served the notice to bargain on June

20 1984 The parties entered into negotiations and had

three rounds of bargaining sessions on September 2 October

4 and October 16 1984 However the parties failed to

reach a settlement It is not clear whether or not the

parties sought the assistance of a conciliator to iron out

their differences

It appears that when the negotiations broke down

there were a number of issues unresolved between the parties

It also appears that the parties intended to put all those

unresolved issues before the arbitrator However Const

Cheversspokesman for the Association stated at the outset

of the hearing that the Association was seeking arbitrashy

tion award only on one issue - ie salaries This

statement surprized even the Towns Counsel Mr Bernardo

who had written a brief on a number of issuesi However the

parti~s finally agreed that the only issue before this

arbitrator is of salary for the year 1984 I assume

that all other issues have either been resolved between

the parties or withdrawn by the Association

-6shy

ISSUE - SALARY

The Association has demanded a 10 increase over the

1983 salaries across the board for all civilian employees

The Town on the other hand has offered a 5 increase for

all civilian employees The 1983 salary scale of the

civilian employees is as follows

Effective January i 1983 Annual

CLERKshy STENOGRAPHER

Start $1236000 After 1 year service $1378000 after 2 year service $1520000

Bonus re Intelligence Work 50000

STATION-OPERATOR-TYPIST

Start 1191000After 1 year service 1252500After 2 year service 1 1312500

STATION-OPERATOR

Start 1127000After 1 year service 1184000After 2 year service 1 1241000

It may be pointed out that presently the Collingwood Police

Force does not have any employee in the category of Stationshy

Operator As noted earlier that it has only one employee

in the classification of Clerk Stenographer and five emshy

ployees in the classification of Station-Operator-Typist

-7shy

THE ASSOCIATIONS POSITION

The Association in support of its claim has argued

that the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

department are the lowest paid employees among the Georgian

Bay police forces According to the Association the salshy

aries of the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force are 11 to 26 per cent behind the average salaries

of the civilian employees of the other Georgian Bay police

forces

SALARIES 1984

GEORGIAN BAY AREA FORCES

1 Barrie Secretary 1795500Stenographer 1624900Records Clerk 1624900CPIC Operator 1716200

2 Innisfil All Civilian EmployeesStart 1606800After 12 months 1648100After 24 months 17J2000After J6 months 1782J00

J Midland Civilian Radio Operator0-12 months 1186J4712-24 months 1J5J5JO24-over 14J7068

-8shy

Radio Operator and Records Radio Operator - Clerk 0-12 months12-24 months24-over

StenographerStation-Operator

Clerk-DispatcherStenographerClerk-Dispatcher IIStenographer IIClerk-Dispatcher IIIStenographer III

1617531

123647014035461487191

15488001701700

175270017527001656100165610015667001566700

123600013780001520000

4 Orillia

5 Owen Sound

6 Collingwood( 1983 ) Clerk

StartAfterAfter

Stenographer

1 year2 year

StartAfter yearAfter 2 year

Station-OperatorStartAfter 1 yearAfter 2 year

(Plus 50000 intelligencework)

Station-Operator-Typist119100012525001312500

112700011 84000 1241000

---

COLI I NG~OOD IS AVE RAGE FOR GEOHGI AN BAY FORCES

CATEGORY

STEiOGRAPHER (INCLUDES CATEGORIES DESIGNAT~D AS CLERK STENOSECRETARY CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CLERK DISPATCHERI (INCLUDES RECORDS

0I CIVILIAN RADIO

OPERATOR RECORDSCLERK STATIONOPERATOR TYPIST CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CPIC OPERATOR(INCLUDES CIVILIANRADIO OPERATORSTATION OPERATORCIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

COLI I NGlvOOD PERCENTAGE GEORGI iN BAY DIffERENCE FORCE 1983 5~ 1984 ~IONETJIY DI FfERENCE

1776800 1520000 1596000 180800 1133

1694358 1312500 1378125 316233 2294

1645189 1241000 1303050 342139 2626

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 4: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

- -- -- - - -- ----

-4shy

OFFICERS CIVILIANS

1 Police Chief 1 Clerk Stenographer

1 Staff Sargeant 5 Station-Operator-Typists

3 Sargeants

12 First Class Constables

1 Fourth Class Constable

The Collingwood Police Force (civilian employees)

receives telephone calls and complaints (and make dispatches)

not only for the Town of Collingwood but also for the

Township of Thornbury (The Township of Thornbury has its

own police force but no civilian employee) In other words

the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

discharge some of the civilian functions for both the police

forces - Collingwood and Thornbury For example in 1984

out of 10437 calls logged with the Collingwood Police Force

1822 calls were logged for the Police Force of Thornbury

The civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force belong to the Collingwood Police Association but they

bargain separately and have a separate collective agreement

In the past the parties have generally resolved their

differences mutually and reached to a settlement without

any outside help This is the first time the parties have

-5shy

failed to resolve their differences through negotiations

which led to this arbitration

The Association served the notice to bargain on June

20 1984 The parties entered into negotiations and had

three rounds of bargaining sessions on September 2 October

4 and October 16 1984 However the parties failed to

reach a settlement It is not clear whether or not the

parties sought the assistance of a conciliator to iron out

their differences

It appears that when the negotiations broke down

there were a number of issues unresolved between the parties

It also appears that the parties intended to put all those

unresolved issues before the arbitrator However Const

Cheversspokesman for the Association stated at the outset

of the hearing that the Association was seeking arbitrashy

tion award only on one issue - ie salaries This

statement surprized even the Towns Counsel Mr Bernardo

who had written a brief on a number of issuesi However the

parti~s finally agreed that the only issue before this

arbitrator is of salary for the year 1984 I assume

that all other issues have either been resolved between

the parties or withdrawn by the Association

-6shy

ISSUE - SALARY

The Association has demanded a 10 increase over the

1983 salaries across the board for all civilian employees

The Town on the other hand has offered a 5 increase for

all civilian employees The 1983 salary scale of the

civilian employees is as follows

Effective January i 1983 Annual

CLERKshy STENOGRAPHER

Start $1236000 After 1 year service $1378000 after 2 year service $1520000

Bonus re Intelligence Work 50000

STATION-OPERATOR-TYPIST

Start 1191000After 1 year service 1252500After 2 year service 1 1312500

STATION-OPERATOR

Start 1127000After 1 year service 1184000After 2 year service 1 1241000

It may be pointed out that presently the Collingwood Police

Force does not have any employee in the category of Stationshy

Operator As noted earlier that it has only one employee

in the classification of Clerk Stenographer and five emshy

ployees in the classification of Station-Operator-Typist

-7shy

THE ASSOCIATIONS POSITION

The Association in support of its claim has argued

that the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

department are the lowest paid employees among the Georgian

Bay police forces According to the Association the salshy

aries of the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force are 11 to 26 per cent behind the average salaries

of the civilian employees of the other Georgian Bay police

forces

SALARIES 1984

GEORGIAN BAY AREA FORCES

1 Barrie Secretary 1795500Stenographer 1624900Records Clerk 1624900CPIC Operator 1716200

2 Innisfil All Civilian EmployeesStart 1606800After 12 months 1648100After 24 months 17J2000After J6 months 1782J00

J Midland Civilian Radio Operator0-12 months 1186J4712-24 months 1J5J5JO24-over 14J7068

-8shy

Radio Operator and Records Radio Operator - Clerk 0-12 months12-24 months24-over

StenographerStation-Operator

Clerk-DispatcherStenographerClerk-Dispatcher IIStenographer IIClerk-Dispatcher IIIStenographer III

1617531

123647014035461487191

15488001701700

175270017527001656100165610015667001566700

123600013780001520000

4 Orillia

5 Owen Sound

6 Collingwood( 1983 ) Clerk

StartAfterAfter

Stenographer

1 year2 year

StartAfter yearAfter 2 year

Station-OperatorStartAfter 1 yearAfter 2 year

(Plus 50000 intelligencework)

Station-Operator-Typist119100012525001312500

112700011 84000 1241000

---

COLI I NG~OOD IS AVE RAGE FOR GEOHGI AN BAY FORCES

CATEGORY

STEiOGRAPHER (INCLUDES CATEGORIES DESIGNAT~D AS CLERK STENOSECRETARY CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CLERK DISPATCHERI (INCLUDES RECORDS

0I CIVILIAN RADIO

OPERATOR RECORDSCLERK STATIONOPERATOR TYPIST CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CPIC OPERATOR(INCLUDES CIVILIANRADIO OPERATORSTATION OPERATORCIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

COLI I NGlvOOD PERCENTAGE GEORGI iN BAY DIffERENCE FORCE 1983 5~ 1984 ~IONETJIY DI FfERENCE

1776800 1520000 1596000 180800 1133

1694358 1312500 1378125 316233 2294

1645189 1241000 1303050 342139 2626

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 5: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-5shy

failed to resolve their differences through negotiations

which led to this arbitration

The Association served the notice to bargain on June

20 1984 The parties entered into negotiations and had

three rounds of bargaining sessions on September 2 October

4 and October 16 1984 However the parties failed to

reach a settlement It is not clear whether or not the

parties sought the assistance of a conciliator to iron out

their differences

It appears that when the negotiations broke down

there were a number of issues unresolved between the parties

It also appears that the parties intended to put all those

unresolved issues before the arbitrator However Const

Cheversspokesman for the Association stated at the outset

of the hearing that the Association was seeking arbitrashy

tion award only on one issue - ie salaries This

statement surprized even the Towns Counsel Mr Bernardo

who had written a brief on a number of issuesi However the

parti~s finally agreed that the only issue before this

arbitrator is of salary for the year 1984 I assume

that all other issues have either been resolved between

the parties or withdrawn by the Association

-6shy

ISSUE - SALARY

The Association has demanded a 10 increase over the

1983 salaries across the board for all civilian employees

The Town on the other hand has offered a 5 increase for

all civilian employees The 1983 salary scale of the

civilian employees is as follows

Effective January i 1983 Annual

CLERKshy STENOGRAPHER

Start $1236000 After 1 year service $1378000 after 2 year service $1520000

Bonus re Intelligence Work 50000

STATION-OPERATOR-TYPIST

Start 1191000After 1 year service 1252500After 2 year service 1 1312500

STATION-OPERATOR

Start 1127000After 1 year service 1184000After 2 year service 1 1241000

It may be pointed out that presently the Collingwood Police

Force does not have any employee in the category of Stationshy

Operator As noted earlier that it has only one employee

in the classification of Clerk Stenographer and five emshy

ployees in the classification of Station-Operator-Typist

-7shy

THE ASSOCIATIONS POSITION

The Association in support of its claim has argued

that the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

department are the lowest paid employees among the Georgian

Bay police forces According to the Association the salshy

aries of the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force are 11 to 26 per cent behind the average salaries

of the civilian employees of the other Georgian Bay police

forces

SALARIES 1984

GEORGIAN BAY AREA FORCES

1 Barrie Secretary 1795500Stenographer 1624900Records Clerk 1624900CPIC Operator 1716200

2 Innisfil All Civilian EmployeesStart 1606800After 12 months 1648100After 24 months 17J2000After J6 months 1782J00

J Midland Civilian Radio Operator0-12 months 1186J4712-24 months 1J5J5JO24-over 14J7068

-8shy

Radio Operator and Records Radio Operator - Clerk 0-12 months12-24 months24-over

StenographerStation-Operator

Clerk-DispatcherStenographerClerk-Dispatcher IIStenographer IIClerk-Dispatcher IIIStenographer III

1617531

123647014035461487191

15488001701700

175270017527001656100165610015667001566700

123600013780001520000

4 Orillia

5 Owen Sound

6 Collingwood( 1983 ) Clerk

StartAfterAfter

Stenographer

1 year2 year

StartAfter yearAfter 2 year

Station-OperatorStartAfter 1 yearAfter 2 year

(Plus 50000 intelligencework)

Station-Operator-Typist119100012525001312500

112700011 84000 1241000

---

COLI I NG~OOD IS AVE RAGE FOR GEOHGI AN BAY FORCES

CATEGORY

STEiOGRAPHER (INCLUDES CATEGORIES DESIGNAT~D AS CLERK STENOSECRETARY CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CLERK DISPATCHERI (INCLUDES RECORDS

0I CIVILIAN RADIO

OPERATOR RECORDSCLERK STATIONOPERATOR TYPIST CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CPIC OPERATOR(INCLUDES CIVILIANRADIO OPERATORSTATION OPERATORCIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

COLI I NGlvOOD PERCENTAGE GEORGI iN BAY DIffERENCE FORCE 1983 5~ 1984 ~IONETJIY DI FfERENCE

1776800 1520000 1596000 180800 1133

1694358 1312500 1378125 316233 2294

1645189 1241000 1303050 342139 2626

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 6: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-6shy

ISSUE - SALARY

The Association has demanded a 10 increase over the

1983 salaries across the board for all civilian employees

The Town on the other hand has offered a 5 increase for

all civilian employees The 1983 salary scale of the

civilian employees is as follows

Effective January i 1983 Annual

CLERKshy STENOGRAPHER

Start $1236000 After 1 year service $1378000 after 2 year service $1520000

Bonus re Intelligence Work 50000

STATION-OPERATOR-TYPIST

Start 1191000After 1 year service 1252500After 2 year service 1 1312500

STATION-OPERATOR

Start 1127000After 1 year service 1184000After 2 year service 1 1241000

It may be pointed out that presently the Collingwood Police

Force does not have any employee in the category of Stationshy

Operator As noted earlier that it has only one employee

in the classification of Clerk Stenographer and five emshy

ployees in the classification of Station-Operator-Typist

-7shy

THE ASSOCIATIONS POSITION

The Association in support of its claim has argued

that the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

department are the lowest paid employees among the Georgian

Bay police forces According to the Association the salshy

aries of the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force are 11 to 26 per cent behind the average salaries

of the civilian employees of the other Georgian Bay police

forces

SALARIES 1984

GEORGIAN BAY AREA FORCES

1 Barrie Secretary 1795500Stenographer 1624900Records Clerk 1624900CPIC Operator 1716200

2 Innisfil All Civilian EmployeesStart 1606800After 12 months 1648100After 24 months 17J2000After J6 months 1782J00

J Midland Civilian Radio Operator0-12 months 1186J4712-24 months 1J5J5JO24-over 14J7068

-8shy

Radio Operator and Records Radio Operator - Clerk 0-12 months12-24 months24-over

StenographerStation-Operator

Clerk-DispatcherStenographerClerk-Dispatcher IIStenographer IIClerk-Dispatcher IIIStenographer III

1617531

123647014035461487191

15488001701700

175270017527001656100165610015667001566700

123600013780001520000

4 Orillia

5 Owen Sound

6 Collingwood( 1983 ) Clerk

StartAfterAfter

Stenographer

1 year2 year

StartAfter yearAfter 2 year

Station-OperatorStartAfter 1 yearAfter 2 year

(Plus 50000 intelligencework)

Station-Operator-Typist119100012525001312500

112700011 84000 1241000

---

COLI I NG~OOD IS AVE RAGE FOR GEOHGI AN BAY FORCES

CATEGORY

STEiOGRAPHER (INCLUDES CATEGORIES DESIGNAT~D AS CLERK STENOSECRETARY CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CLERK DISPATCHERI (INCLUDES RECORDS

0I CIVILIAN RADIO

OPERATOR RECORDSCLERK STATIONOPERATOR TYPIST CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CPIC OPERATOR(INCLUDES CIVILIANRADIO OPERATORSTATION OPERATORCIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

COLI I NGlvOOD PERCENTAGE GEORGI iN BAY DIffERENCE FORCE 1983 5~ 1984 ~IONETJIY DI FfERENCE

1776800 1520000 1596000 180800 1133

1694358 1312500 1378125 316233 2294

1645189 1241000 1303050 342139 2626

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 7: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-7shy

THE ASSOCIATIONS POSITION

The Association in support of its claim has argued

that the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force

department are the lowest paid employees among the Georgian

Bay police forces According to the Association the salshy

aries of the civilian employees of the Collingwood Police

Force are 11 to 26 per cent behind the average salaries

of the civilian employees of the other Georgian Bay police

forces

SALARIES 1984

GEORGIAN BAY AREA FORCES

1 Barrie Secretary 1795500Stenographer 1624900Records Clerk 1624900CPIC Operator 1716200

2 Innisfil All Civilian EmployeesStart 1606800After 12 months 1648100After 24 months 17J2000After J6 months 1782J00

J Midland Civilian Radio Operator0-12 months 1186J4712-24 months 1J5J5JO24-over 14J7068

-8shy

Radio Operator and Records Radio Operator - Clerk 0-12 months12-24 months24-over

StenographerStation-Operator

Clerk-DispatcherStenographerClerk-Dispatcher IIStenographer IIClerk-Dispatcher IIIStenographer III

1617531

123647014035461487191

15488001701700

175270017527001656100165610015667001566700

123600013780001520000

4 Orillia

5 Owen Sound

6 Collingwood( 1983 ) Clerk

StartAfterAfter

Stenographer

1 year2 year

StartAfter yearAfter 2 year

Station-OperatorStartAfter 1 yearAfter 2 year

(Plus 50000 intelligencework)

Station-Operator-Typist119100012525001312500

112700011 84000 1241000

---

COLI I NG~OOD IS AVE RAGE FOR GEOHGI AN BAY FORCES

CATEGORY

STEiOGRAPHER (INCLUDES CATEGORIES DESIGNAT~D AS CLERK STENOSECRETARY CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CLERK DISPATCHERI (INCLUDES RECORDS

0I CIVILIAN RADIO

OPERATOR RECORDSCLERK STATIONOPERATOR TYPIST CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CPIC OPERATOR(INCLUDES CIVILIANRADIO OPERATORSTATION OPERATORCIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

COLI I NGlvOOD PERCENTAGE GEORGI iN BAY DIffERENCE FORCE 1983 5~ 1984 ~IONETJIY DI FfERENCE

1776800 1520000 1596000 180800 1133

1694358 1312500 1378125 316233 2294

1645189 1241000 1303050 342139 2626

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 8: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-8shy

Radio Operator and Records Radio Operator - Clerk 0-12 months12-24 months24-over

StenographerStation-Operator

Clerk-DispatcherStenographerClerk-Dispatcher IIStenographer IIClerk-Dispatcher IIIStenographer III

1617531

123647014035461487191

15488001701700

175270017527001656100165610015667001566700

123600013780001520000

4 Orillia

5 Owen Sound

6 Collingwood( 1983 ) Clerk

StartAfterAfter

Stenographer

1 year2 year

StartAfter yearAfter 2 year

Station-OperatorStartAfter 1 yearAfter 2 year

(Plus 50000 intelligencework)

Station-Operator-Typist119100012525001312500

112700011 84000 1241000

---

COLI I NG~OOD IS AVE RAGE FOR GEOHGI AN BAY FORCES

CATEGORY

STEiOGRAPHER (INCLUDES CATEGORIES DESIGNAT~D AS CLERK STENOSECRETARY CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CLERK DISPATCHERI (INCLUDES RECORDS

0I CIVILIAN RADIO

OPERATOR RECORDSCLERK STATIONOPERATOR TYPIST CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CPIC OPERATOR(INCLUDES CIVILIANRADIO OPERATORSTATION OPERATORCIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

COLI I NGlvOOD PERCENTAGE GEORGI iN BAY DIffERENCE FORCE 1983 5~ 1984 ~IONETJIY DI FfERENCE

1776800 1520000 1596000 180800 1133

1694358 1312500 1378125 316233 2294

1645189 1241000 1303050 342139 2626

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 9: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

---

COLI I NG~OOD IS AVE RAGE FOR GEOHGI AN BAY FORCES

CATEGORY

STEiOGRAPHER (INCLUDES CATEGORIES DESIGNAT~D AS CLERK STENOSECRETARY CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CLERK DISPATCHERI (INCLUDES RECORDS

0I CIVILIAN RADIO

OPERATOR RECORDSCLERK STATIONOPERATOR TYPIST CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

CPIC OPERATOR(INCLUDES CIVILIANRADIO OPERATORSTATION OPERATORCIVILIAN EMPLOYEE)

COLI I NGlvOOD PERCENTAGE GEORGI iN BAY DIffERENCE FORCE 1983 5~ 1984 ~IONETJIY DI FfERENCE

1776800 1520000 1596000 180800 1133

1694358 1312500 1378125 316233 2294

1645189 1241000 1303050 342139 2626

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 10: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-10shy

Georgian Bay area police forces include

Town Population Civilian Distance fromEmployees Collingwood

Barrie 45000 12 50 km

Innisfil 12000 6 65 km

Midland 12000 5 45 km

Orillia 24000 10 60 km

Owen Sound 19000 5 50 km

Collingwood 12000 6 0

Barrie is the largest city in the Georgian Bay area

with a population of approximately 45000 Orillia is the

second largest town with a population of approximately

24000 However the towns of Innisfil Midland and Own

Sound are more comparable to Collingwood in size of popushy

lation and number of civilian employees

The Association has further suggested that the salaries

of the civilian employees in Collingwood Police Force are

substantially lower than that of the civilian employees

of the other police forces of similar communities in Ontario

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 11: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

I

I

-11shy

COM PAR A B L E FOR C E S

I

I

SANDWICH WEST

I PORT HOPE

ELLIOT LAKE I

WALLACEBURG

I

ORANGEVILLE

I COBOURG

CORNWALL I

KIRKLAND LAKE

I

KAPUSKASKING

I TILLSONBURG

I

I

I

I

2100000 shy

1770000

2200000

1600000

1800000

1370000 (1983)

2000000

1620000

2100000

1670000

I

I

I

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 12: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-12shy

The Association has further pointed out that the

civilian employees of the Collingwood Police Force are

not merely typists stenographers and clerks as their

titles or classifications indicate Rather they discharge

all civilian functions normally associated with any police

operation According to the Association the civilian emshy

ployees of the Collingwood Police Force in fact discharge

wide range of duties and more onrus functions than their

counterp~rts in other police forces In support of its

contention the Association attached to its brief the state~

ments by the civilian employees of their job description

The Association however did not present any evidence

whatsoever in this regard The Counsel for the Town on

the other hand objected to the accuracy and validity of

those job descriptions

In other words the Association has suggested that

the titles and classifications of the civilian employees

do not reflect the true nature of their duties responsishy

bilities and job functions According to the Association

this has kept their wages lower than their counterparts in

other police forces

I have no doubt that the civil employees of a police

- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

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- - -- - - --- - - -- - - -- --- -- -

-lJshy

force generally have a higher responsibility and they disshy

charge varied and onrus tasks than the typists and clerks

in a normal business environment The Association may be

correct in its assertion that the titles and classifications

of its civilian members do not reflect the true nature of

their jobs The Association thus indirectly has raised

a fresh issue of reclassification of the civilian employees

The Association may be justified but the issue of classishy

fication however is not before me and I do not wish to

express any opinion in this regard The parties may be

best advised to discuss this issue in the next round of

negotiation if they so desire

It is evident that the classifications of the civilian

employees in the police forces are not uniform throughout

the province as that of the police officers Rather the

classifications of the civilian employees differ not only

from region to region but from town to town Thus it is

difficult to compare the salaries of the civilian employees

of the one force with that of the other with any accuracy

For example in its comparison the Association has comshy

pared CPIC operations in other Georgian Bay forces with

the Station-Operator in the Collingwood Police Force Whereshy

as factually there is not a single Station-Operator in

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 14: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-14shy

Collingwood (though a classification exists on paper) and

CPIC functions are discharged by the civilian employees

classified as Station-Operator-Typists

Further according to the information supplied by the

Association Barrie has four classifications of civilian

employees Owen Sound and Midland have three Orillia has

two and Innisfil has only one classification of civilian

employees However it is not clear how many civilian emshy

ployees each force has in different classification of

civilian employees Thus without the information of the

exact number of employees in each classification the classishy

fication and their rate of pay alone does not lead to comshy

parative analysis of civilian force

The Association though has shown a degree of disshy

parity in the salaries of the civil employees in comparison

with some of the forces in Georgian Bay area but it has not

persuaded me that it should be allowed to catch up partishy

cularly in the year of slow growth high unemployment and

economic restraint

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 15: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-15shy

THE TOWNS POSITION

The Town has proposed a 5 per cent increase over the

1983 salaries of all civilian employees The Towns proshy

posal of 5 is largely based upon the provision of the

Provincial Restraint Legislation and the Criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario under section 4 of

the Act Further the Town has opposed the Associations

request on the basis of Towns ability to pay increase

in the Consumers Price Index and the recent trend of wage

increases in private and public sector The Town has

justified its offer of 5 increase on the ground that the

Consumer Price Index has increased only 4 from November

1983 to November 1984 Further that the private sector

settlements in Ontario for the last quarter of 198J averaged

J7 for the first quarter of 1984 averaged J8 and for

the second quarter of 1984 averaged 37 In the local area

wage increases (through negotiated settlement) based on

total compensation were around the 5 mark Public sector

settlements in Collingwood based on total compensation for

1984 show the following

Collingwood Police Officers 55

Collingwood Firefighters 55

Outside Workers 47

Public Utilities CommissionInside and Outside Workers 50

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 16: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-16shy

The Town has further argued that it has been always

reasonable and fair to the civilian employees of its Police

Force In 1983 the Town has vOluntarily awarded an inshy

crease of $100000 over the 1982 salaries the amount maxishy

mum allowed under the Act

Finally the Town expressed its inability to pay any

substantial wage increase on the ground of the limited

provincial grants In 1984 the police grant according

to the Town was approximately $23900000 Further that

any increase in salaries of the civilian employees in

excess of 5 will result in further tax increases of those

whose limits have been reached

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PRICES AND COMPENSATION REVIEW ACT

The Town justified its proposal for a 5 increase

ln 1984 in large part on the basis of the provincial

governments policy of financial restraint for public

sector employees reflected in Bill 111 the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Act 1983 and the widespread

acceptance of the policy in 1984 public sector wage settleshy

ments in the community covering municipal employees police

forces school board employees and utility employees

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 17: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-17shy

Article 4 (1) of the Act authorizes the Treasurer

of Ontario to determine criteria for assessing changes

in compensation in the public sector The criterion

determined by him provides that

The estimated average compensationfor a compensation group on the lastday of the restraint period shouldrepresent either no increase or anincrease of up to 5 in the averagecompensation for the compensationgroup on the last day preceding therestraint period

In a statement to the Legislature on November 8

1983 the Treasurer announced that

We will ensure the continuation ofrestraint by placing clear limitson funding for all public sectorwage increases during the comingyear Our grants and transfers tomunicipalities school boardsuniversities and other publicly-funded institutions as well asallocations for our own civilservants will provide for averagecompensation increases of up to5 per cent for a group

Under Article 10 (1) of the Act every Act or

Regulation that requires or permits an issue that arises

in collective bargaining to be submitted to or determined

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 18: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-18shy

by arbitration shall be deemed to include a provision

that the arbitrator shall consider the employers ability

to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal policy

Thus in view of the 5 per cent criterion proshy

mulgated by the Treasurer of Ontario and the provision

of section 10 of th~ Act which requires an arbitrator

to consider the employers ability to pay in the light of

existing provincial fiscal policy it has been urged to me

that I have no option but to limit my award to an increase

in total compensation of 5 per cent This however

raises a fundamental question what limitations has the

Act imposed on the freedom and jurisdiction of an arbitrashy

tor It is not the first time that the question of an

arbitrators authority and jurisdiction in this regard has

been raised The issue was first surfaced in an interest

arbitration Re Thirtv Participating Hospitals and Canadian

Union of Operating Engineers unreported March 1 1984

(Barton) In that award the chairman referred to the

provisions of the legislation and to the criterion esshy

tablished by the Treasurer pursuant to section 4 of the

Act The award does not specifically refer to section 10

and the requirement in that section to consider the employers

ability to pay in the light of prevailing provincial fiscal

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 19: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-19shy

policy but it does come to the following conclusion as

to the way in which compensation ought to be determined

under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act in

light of the Public Sector Prices and Compensation Review

Act

Bearing in mind this legislationour position herein is that thiscriterion is an overriding one whichmust dominate our deliberationsand should the Union wish an increasein compensation higher than that setout therein it should specificallymake a strong case for such anincrease

Dealing with an interest dispute under the Police

Act Professor Peter Barton in Re Council of the Corporashy

tion of the Town of Wiarton and Wiarton Police Association

unreported July 10 1984 (Barton) sets out similar

reasoning in the following terms

This criterion is an overridingcriterion at the present time andit is clear to me that should Iwish to go above the 5 figure fortotal compensation I must have goodreasons for doing so

In Re Board of Commissioners of Police for the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and Metropolitan

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 20: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-20shy

Toronto Police Association unreported October 25 1984

(Goldenberg) arbitrator Honourable Carl Goldenberg stated

While this requirement imposes anobligation on the arbitrator I donot find that in specifying oneconsideration it precludes thearbitrator from taking account ofother considerations relevant tothe issue which may warrant anincrease in excess of the standardHowever I agree with the majorityaward in the case of Thirty Partishycipating Hospitals and the CanadianUnion of Operating Engineers (March1 1984) that if a union wishes an increase in compensation higher thanthe standard which has been set under Bill 111 it should specifically make a strong case for such anincrease

In Re The Board of Commissioners of Police of the

City of Peterborou~h and Peterborou~h Police Senior Officers

Association unreported October 24 1984 (Swan) PTofessor

Swan discussed at length the impact of the Public Sector

Prices and Compensation Review Act on the scope of arbishy

tral authority and jurisdiction He stated

The Public Sector Prices and Compenshysation Review Act 1983 is not newlegislation in an area hitherto unshytouched by statutory interventionThere are a number of statutory

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 21: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-21shy

schemes for interest arbitrationwhich have been in effect for manyyears including that establishedby the Police Act There is noshything in the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act whichpurports to amend any of those preshyexisting statutory schemes exceptfor the additional requirement insection 10 to consider the Employersability to pay in the light ofexisting provincial fiscal policyThat is as I have said an additionalrequirement clearly imposed by thelegislation along with rather thaninstead of the criteria already esshytablished by the primary statute orcreated by arbitrators under themandate of that statute In the caseof the Police Ac~ the criteriaestablished by arbitrators are wellknown and settled at least insofaras any code of criteria establishedby a developing jurisprudence can besaid to be settled Arbitration awardsdecisions on jUdicial review scholarlywritings and the general expectationsof the parties over the years havecreated a set of criteria whicn musthave been known to the legislatorswho passed the Public Sector Pricesand Compensation Review Act 1983Were there any intention to do awaywith any those criteria that couldeasily have been spelled out in thelegislation Moreover were thereeven any intention to make abilityto pay as defined a paramount conshysideration that also could have beenmade perfectly clear in the legislationArbitrators are required in my viewto take the legislation at face valueand do precisely what it requiresnothing more and nothing less What

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 22: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-22shy

this legislation requires is a conshysideration of ability to pay in thelight of existing provincial fiscalpolicy That is of course not aconsideration of actual ability topay as arbitrators have consideredthat criterion in the past but anartificial consideration based uponfiscal policy a concept whichdepends upon the political determinashytions of the government of the dayArtifical though it may be howeverit must be considered if an arbitratoris not to be unfaithful to his or herjurisdiction But there is no disshycernible legislative intention thatthat factor ought to become paramountor overriding It must be takeninto account in the same way as theother pre-existing criteria whichconstitute the substantial part of thearbitrators jurisdiction under thelegislation under which he or she actsin this case the Police Act

In other words it is my responsibilityto consider all of the factors normallyconsidered by arbitrators and in adshydition to consider the special abilityto pay criterion established by section10 of the Public Sector Prices andCompensation Review Act It is no partof my jurisdiction to make the kind ofcomparison required under section 4between criteria established by theTreasurer and the effect of thisarbitration award

Recently dealing with an interest dispute under the

Hospitals Arbitration Act in Re Forty-Seven Participating

Hospitals and Service Employees International Union unshy

reported November 151984 (Kruger)the Board of

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 23: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-23shy

Arbitration held that In deciding this and other

matters affecting compensation of employees covered by

these agreements this Board must take account of section

10 (1) of Bill 111 as well as of any other factors this

Board deems to be relevant In singling out Bill 111

section 10 (i) we are not suggesting that the employers

ability to pay in the light of existing provincial fiscal

policy is the sole or overriding factor All that Bill

111 requires is that this be considered This Board is

free to consider other relevant factors such as cost of

living changes salaries in comparable occupations in

the private sector the pattern of wage increases problems

in attracting and retaining staff and so on in deciding

on this matter We are also free to determine the relashy

tive weights to be assigned to these factors

COMMUNITY STANDARD AND TREND OF WAGE SETTLEMENTS

It is widely accepted by arbitrators that community

standard is an important factor in determination of salaries

It is clear that the standard accepted by the community

in negotiated compensation increases for 1984 in the public

sector of the Town of Collingwood is 5 or approximately

5 Furthermore as already noted with respect to police

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 24: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-24shy

salaries increases outside of Collingwood for 1984 had also

been at or close to 5

In comparison with the police settlements it is of

interest to note that major wage settlements negotiated

in Canada in the first quarters of 1984 the most recent

period for which the figures are available show average

annual effective increases in base rates including estishy

mated amounts from cost-of-living clauses of 39 and

32 in the first and second quarters of 1984 respectively

For Ontario the corresponding figures show respective

increases of 29 and 41 (See Collective Bargaining

Information Report 1984 Pay Research Bureau Ottawa)

Admittedly 1984 has been a year of restraint and the

figures are affected by settlements providing for a wage

freeze or wage cut Nonetheless they are relevant to

the issue before me

The Association has contended that the Town of

Collingwood has the ability as well as the capacity to

pay and it can certainly afford the wage increases reshy

quested by the Association But the Town is refusing to

its request because 1985 is an election year and our

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 25: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-25shy

present municipal officials do not want to make any

decision that may prove unfavourable with the electorate

In support of this contention the Association attached

with its brief the newspaper cuttings from Simcoe Report

April 1984 Enterprise Bulletin November JO 198J and

Toronto Star However the Association adduced no evidence

whatsoever in support of its contention about the Towns

ability to pay An arbitrator in my opinion in the

absence of a concrete evidence can not make findings merely

on the basis of newspaper reports and political statements

With greatest respect to the members of the Association

I simply have not found their arguments for their catch up

proposal to be persuasive

The general economic conditions the pattern of

negotiated and awarded settlement and the existence of the

Provincial Fiscal Policy for 1984 restrain me from granting

an increase higher than 5 per cent

Finally the Association has also requested that

failing an increase above the 5 per cent guidelines I

should establish a criteria for future negotiations to

achieve fair and equitable salaries I am afraid I can

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 26: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-26shy

not oblige the Association in this regard In my opinion

for an arbitrator to establish a wage criteria for future

negotiations would amount to an interference with the process

of free collective bargaining Therefore I must decline

to do so

CONCLUSION

Having regard to the submissions of the parties and

for the foregoing reasons I award a 5 per cent increase

in salaries of the civilian employees in all the classishy

fications This increase is consistent with many of the

negotiated and arbitrated wage rates for police and civilian

personnel in Ontario

In arriving at the foregoing determination this

arbitrator has had regard to the employers ability to

pay and the total impact costs associated with this award

as required to be done under the provision of the Public

Sector Prices and Compensation Act (1983 Ontario) The

provisions of the previous Collective Agreement are to be

amended and changed in accordance with the terms of this

award

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator

Page 27: COLLINGWOOD Feb. 7, 1985 80y -GOE - Police Arbitrationpolicearbitration.on.ca/search/documents/awards/85-005.pdf · collingwood feb. 7, 1985 80y -goe in the matter of the police act

-27shy

I shall remain seized of jurisdiction in this matter

to the extent necessary to resolve any problems which may

arise from the implementation of this award

I wish to thank the representatives of the parties

for their able presentations for the courtesy and assisshy

tance they have extended to me

Dated at Thunder Bay Ontario this 7th day of

February 1985

Arbitrator


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