An arbitrator recently dismissed a union grievance disputing that the unilateral imposition of a mandatory vaccination practice was a reasonable exercise of management rights and responsibilities under the collective agreement.
Since late fall 2021, we have seen a steady flow of arbitration awards emerge in Ontario and British Columbia that consider issues relating to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in the unionized workplace.
An arbitrator recently decided that the mandatory vaccination policy of BC Hydro was reasonably necessary to justify the significant intrusion on its employees’ bodily integrity and medical privacy - but the policy's discipline aspect was unreasonable.
An arbitrator in British Columbia held that an employer rightfully terminated an employee who was ineligible for work for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine despite a government order requiring it.
An Ontario arbitrator recently upheld a retirement home’s mandatory vaccination policy as a reasonable workplace rule consistent with the collective agreement, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Retirement Homes Act, 2010.
An arbitrator has upheld the Toronto District School Board’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, determining determined that the policy did not infringe section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and was a reasonable exercise of management rights.
An arbitrator has made another contribution to the “weight of authority” in Ontario labour arbitration awards pertaining to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in unionized workplaces.
In United Utility Workers’ Association of Canada v Dataco Utility Services Ltd., 2022 CanLII 13414, Arbitrator John Moreau, Q.C., dismissed 11 grievances filed on behalf of 11 service technicians who were suspended indefinitely due to COVID-19.
In Power Workers’ Union v Elexicon Energy Inc., 2022 CanLII 7228 (ON LA), a union challenged the reasonableness of an electricity distribution company’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
