Bulletin
FortisBC & FortisBC-CSC-Queen’s Day of Mourning Policy Grievance Update
February 24, 2023
To: All MoveUP members at FBC & FBC-CSC
We are writing to inform you that upon our review and preparation for arbitration, your Union has withdrawn the policy grievance pertaining to the Day of Mourning to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022.
You may recall that we wrote to you on September 15, 2022, informing you that your union had filed a policy grievance regarding your employer’s decision not to recognize September 19, 2022 as a holiday under your collective agreement. We took the position that it should be recognized as such based on the plain language of the agreement.
Your union has decided not to proceed to arbitration, as we would likely not succeed due to recent arbitral jurisprudence which supports the distinction that your employer has made between a day declared a holiday by the government for its citizens in its capacity as a governing body, and a day declared a holiday by the government for its own employees in its capacity as an employer. In brief, a recent arbitral decision, which your employer would certainly rely on in this case, upholds the view that the federal and provincial governments did not make the holiday sufficiently broad or official to trigger the language in your collective agreement that would include it in the list of holidays your employer is obliged to honor.
In closing, your union has withdrawn the policy grievance.
If you have any further questions, please contact your job steward.
In solidarity,
Paul Voykin, Union Representative
April Young, Union Representative