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Section 104
Expedited Arbitration
Delays in settling grievances can interfere
with the ongoing relationship between a trade union and employer. Under certain conditions, a party to a
collective agreement can apply
to CAAB for expedited arbitration pursuant to Section 104 of the Labour Relations Code. Section 104 also
provides for the appointment of a settlement officer to assist the parties in an attempt to resolve the grievance,
prior to the appointment of an arbitrator.
Following receipt of a sufficiently completed application that complies with the filing requirements of
Section 104, the director must appoint an arbitrator to hear and determine the matter arising out of the
difference under the collective agreement.
The Director may appoint a settlement officer upon request. If the grievance is not resolved
by the settlement officer, the director will select an arbitrator from a Register of Arbitrators
maintained by CAAB to hear the matter.
The arbitrator must, within seven calendar days of the appointment, conduct a case management conference with the parties to
schedule the exchange of information and documents, schedule hearing dates and encourage settlement of the dispute. Further,
the arbitrator is required to conclude the arbitration within 90 calendar days after the date on which the difference was referred
to the director.
The arbitrator's decision, with written reasons not exceeding seven pages, must be issued within 30 calendar days after the
conclusion of the hearing or, if jointly requested by the parties, and if possible, issue an oral decision within one day after
the conclusion of the hearing.
The
Labour
Relations Code states that no difference may be referred to the Director for expedited
arbitration (section 104) unless
- the grievance procedure has been exhausted;
and
- the application is made within 15 days of
completion of the grievance procedure preceding a reference to arbitration; and
- the matter has not already been referred to
arbitration under the collective agreement by the party who is applying; and
- the time stipulated in the collective
agreement for referring the difference to arbitration has not expired.
Where there is a dispute between the parties
as to whether these conditions have been met, the dispute is normally referred to the
arbitrator who has the jurisdiction to deal with these issues as preliminary matters at the arbitration hearing.
Arbitrators have, among
other powers, the authority to relieve against breaches of time limits or other procedural
requirements. The authority of an arbitration board is set out in
section 89 and
the powers of an arbitration board are set out in
section 92 of the
Labour Relations Code.
The fees and expenses charged by the arbitrator are normally shared equally by the two
parties.
An application under Section 104 of the Code must be submitted on a Request for Appointment form which can be accessed on the LRB
website: www.lrb.bc.ca
An application to CAAB can be filed by e-mail (registrar@lrb.bc.ca), mail,
fax, or in person. The hours for filing applications with CAAB are: 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday to Friday, excluding statutory
holidays. An application filed after 4:00 PM will be treated as filed at 8:00 AM
the next business day.
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