Coram and Treasury Board (Transport Canada)

Full Text

149-2-156, 166-2-26146
Coram and Treasury Board (Transport Canada)

Before: M. Korngold Wexler
Appearances: P. Barnacle, for the Applicant/Grievor; R. Lafrenière, for the Employer
Decision rendered: August 19, 1996

Relocation policy - Air traffic controller - Training - Extension of time to refer grievance to adjudication (section 63 of P.S.S.R.B. Regulations and Rules of Procedure) - grievor, who was employed at the St. Andrews Tower in Manitoba, was sent on training to Winnipeg - as a result, he commuted daily from his residence to Winnipeg for a total amount of 66 km per day round trip - grievor sought "employer requested relocation expense reimbursement" but employer denied that he was entitled to reimbursement for any amount under the policy - at the final level of the grievance procedure, the Executive Committee of the National Joint Council concluded that grievor qualified for relocation under the policy because he met the minimum distance requirement - employer gave grievor commuting assistance but at the lower employee requested rate rather than the higher employer requested rate to which he believed he was entitled - through inadvertence, the bargaining agent failed to refer the grievance to adjudication until some six months after receiving the final level reply - Board granted grievor an extension of time to refer his grievance to adjudication as employer had suffered no prejudice and grievor had always intended to pursue his grievance further - grievor gave conflicting testimony as to whether or not he would have been prepared to move to Winnipeg for the duration of his training - other evidence indicated that he had advised the employer that he was not prepared to do so during his children's school year - adjudicator concluded that grievor was only entitled to reimbursement of his expenses at the employee requested rate.

Application for extension of time allowed.

Grievance denied.

Case cited: Canada (Attorney General) v. Lussier, Court file A-1235-91 (unreported) (Federal Court of Appeal).