The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) filed an application under section 43 of the Public Service Labour Relations Act to have the Board review a previous decision that amalgamated 15 bargaining units into the single Occupational Services Group (SV) bargaining unit – the PSAC sought to redefine the SV bargaining unit by removing Ship’s Crews (SC) employees and establishing a separate bargaining unit for them – in reviewing bargaining unit structure, the Board must have regard to the employer’s classification of persons and positions and must establish units that are coextensive with those groups unless doing so would not permit satisfactory representation of the employees – abundant evidence proved that the SCs have unique working conditions and that they would form a viable bargaining unit with a strong community of interest – the PSAC did not need to prove that any change had occurred since the creation of the bargaining unit – it had to prove that the structure has not permitted the satisfactory representation of the SCs – the PSAC has properly represented the SCs – four rounds of bargaining is a short period over which to conclude that a bargaining unit does not permit the satisfactory representation of a group of employees, especially when two of those rounds could not be considered “normal” – bargaining unit structure is only one of the factors that contributes to the satisfactory representation of employees, and the PSAC did not prove that the existing structure did not permit the satisfactory representation of the SCs – the existence of alternatives, such as subcommittees, codevelopment, pay studies, two-tier bargaining, and alternate dispute resolution processes for specific terms and conditions of employment, supported the adjudicator’s conclusion that the existing structure could permit the satisfactory representation of the SCs.

Application dismissed.