USW Local 9344, representing mining and transportation workers at Rio Tinto’s Iron Ore Company (IOC) operations in Quebec’s North Shore region, recently won key legal challenges of company policies on medical leave and workplace favouritism.
One of the Local 9344 victories appears to have set legal precedent, with a recent decision by the Superior Court of Quebec that upheld a grievance arbitration award the union initially won in 2024.
The union’s grievance challenged the company’s position that an employee on medical leave would be paid based solely on their basic, hourly wage rates. The union argued that such employees should continue to receive the total compensation they normally earned while they were working.
The union’s grievance relied on language that was added to its collective agreement following the federal government’s introduction of new medical leave provisions to the Canada Labour Code in 2022.
In September 2024, an arbitrator ruled in favour of the union’s position, concluding that in medical leave cases, in addition to regular wage rates, the employer must pay “bonuses and enhanced wages the employee would have received had they been working rather than being on leave.”
The employer subsequently filed an appeal for judicial review, which led to the Superior Court’s recent decision to dismiss the appeal and uphold the arbitrator’s initial ruling as “reasonable.”
“Rockstar” program gets thumbs-down
Local 9344 also recently won a grievance arbitration ruling that struck down Rio Tinto’s “Rockstar” employee reward program at IOC.
An arbitrator agreed with the local’s contention that the Rockstar program, which was implemented without the union’s consent, constitutes a working condition and should therefore be governed by the collective bargaining agreement.
Furthermore, the arbitrator ruled that the program violates a letter of understanding, attached to the collective agreement, which stipulates that performance evaluations must not be used to determine wage increases.
The program was scrapped, with the arbitrator ruling that it could not be reinstated by the employer without the union’s prior consent. The arbitrator also ordered the company to pay $150 to each worker to compensate for “moral damages suffered.”
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