In the Matter of an Arbitration
Between
Bell Canada (employer)
And
Unifor (union)
And
In the Matter of Vacation Scheduling Grievances
AWARD
The union alleges that the employer violated article 21.09 of the collective agreement by not
creating vacation schedules in accordance with that article.
The two most relevant provisions of the collective agreement read as follows:
“21.08. Vacation schedules shall be prepared each year by the Company between January 1st
and February 1st with due consideration to seniority, provided, however, that such schedules
shall be arranged to cause, in the judgement of the Company, the least possible interference
with efficient performance of the work. In general, vacations shall commence at the beginning of
the calendar week unless the demands of the work make this impossible.
21.09 For the purposes of vacation selection, each Tier D manager’s group shall be
considered a seniority unit.”
This is not the first time I have addressed the meaning of, principally, article 21.09, but also the
relevance of article 21.08 in the scheduling of vacations. The parties are both familiar with that
award and both addressed it in their final submissions. I do not intend to quote from it and will
say, only, that I reiterate that the results could vary from location to location, depending on the
particular facts.