COVID policy concerns dismissed

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This article was published 29/08/2022 (1312 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite inundating the provincial labour tribunal with complaints about COVID-19 policies, concerns raised by numerous frontline police officers and their civilian colleagues have been dismissed without formal hearings.

Between Jan. 31 and Feb. 25, the Manitoba Labour Board received 19 similar submissions from members of the Winnipeg Police Service.

Typically, the board receives and rules on one-off applications.

“The applicant takes issue with the necessity and legitimacy of the COVID-19 policies, and with the (Winnipeg Police Association’s) response,” states a matching excerpt in a string of recent rulings about police employee concerns.

“The association breached its duty of fair representation in not filing a grievance about the employer’s vaccination policy prior to union members being placed on unpaid leave of absence for non-compliance.”

Each staff member, including constables and clerks, challenged both the service’s pandemic policy on mandatory vaccination or frequent rapid testing and their union’s inaction on filing a related grievance on their behalf. They argued their union discriminated against select staffers by favouring WPS employees who accepted the service’s COVID-19 rules.

The board, an independent tribunal tasked with considering employee issues on everything from pay equity to whistleblowing, indicated hearings were not necessary in these cases. It dismissed all 19 applications.

In her rulings, vice-chairwoman Karine Pelletier said the union did its due diligence by seeking legal advice — which suggested a grievance would be unsuccessful in overturning the immunization policy — and communicating such to its members.

“We did have a number of members that felt the vaccination policy that the WPS had embarked upon was inappropriate and a little heavy-handed, and in some areas, we kind of agreed. In other areas, we disagreed,” said union president Moe Sabourin, who represents upwards of 1,850 police officers and support staff.

Starting on Nov. 15, WPS staffers were required to undergo rapid testing before shifts every two days if they had not disclosed their COVID-19 immunization status to a manager. Manitoba rolled back the testing requirement for unvaccinated public sector workers on March 1.

When the immunization policy was in effect, roughly 97 per cent of police union members shared their double-vaccinated status, a handful chose to go on unpaid leaves and two resigned.

David Camfield, an associate professor of labour studies and sociology at the University of Manitoba, called the labour board’s series of rulings “straightforward.”

“It yet again tells union officials that they don’t have anything to worry about when they support scientifically-grounded policies that are designed to keep people safe,” said Camfield.

Unions may be legally obliged to fairly represent all of their members, but that does not mean they must do everything that every member wants, he said, noting these outcomes fall in line with a pattern of recent duty-of-fair-representation decisions across sectors.

What makes this situation unique is how uncommon it is for a significant number of aggrieved employees to coordinate in filing separate, yet near-identical claims against a union, the researcher said.

“At the end of the day, we represented the members to the best of our ability,” Sabourin said.

The president of the police union indicated WPS originally wanted staff who chose the testing route to participate in a once-weekly monitored test in-person at a designated location in the city. The union successfully lobbied for the possibility of supervision via Zoom to limit the inconvenience, Sabourin said.

There is an ongoing grievance between the union and WPS related to a now-former requirement that anyone who did not declare their immunization status had to wear a mask throughout their shift — a policy the union leader likened to forcing members to wear “a Scarlet Letter.”

Sabourin acknowledged COVID-19 policies have created some workplace tension since March 2020, but he indicated the consensus is now relief in that “it’s pretty much back to usual, as far as how we do business in policing.”

“Memories are short,” he added.

The director of human resources services at Winnipeg’s Legacy Bowes Group echoed that sentiment.

Pandemic policy tensions have seemingly “simmered down” since the province eased virtually all public health orders in the winter, Tory McNally said. However, McNally said she has seen a rise in respectful workplace complaints over the last three or so months, as offices welcome back workers who were isolated at home for much of 2020 and 2021.

“People developed annoying habits and office etiquette has fallen apart,” the human resources professional added.

Colin Robinson, chairman of the labour tribunal, said there have been a notable number of complaints related to fair union representation throughout the pandemic.

In response to a request for comment on the rulings, WPS directed a reporter to the police union.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie