Bulletin
ICBC-COVID-19 Vaccine Policy – Arbitration and Section 54 Complaint Update
August 15, 2022
To: All MoveUP members at ICBC
This bulletin is an update on our grievance and our Labour Relations Code section 54 complaint related to ICBC’s COVID-19 vaccine policy.
In simple terms the section 54 application is about the corporation’s obligation to provide advance notice and the grievance is about the merits of the ICBC mandatory vaccine policy in all its circumstances. In the section 54 application we argue ICBC should have given us more notice and an opportunity to negotiate, and in the grievance, we argue that some features, not the entirety, of the policy are improper. For example, we say the parties could have explored to what extent ‘work from home’ could have been used to avoid workplace exposure to the virus. An employee with, or without, the vaccination might be safer working from home, than working from the workplace.
Re: The Labour Code section 54 complaint
On August 11 the Labour Board invited the parties to make submissions on the effect on our dispute of the Rapid Transit Reconsideration Decision, August 3, 2021, on the present matter. Rapid Transit is a reconsideration of a recent, highly relevant decision on the same issue at a different workplace in BC. You can read that decision at the BC Labour Relations website.
The parties are asked to make written submissions concluding on September 16.
Processing this section 54 application is taking an unusually long time and although we don’t speak on behalf of the Labour Board, it seems as though they are inundated with pandemic related cases to adjudicate. Unfortunately, the delay is not a matter that your union has direct control over.
Re: The grievance arbitration
The arbitration is presently underway with parties currently making written submissions. We will provide further updates as the case is adjudicated.
As we have throughout the pandemic, we continue to encourage all our members to get their COVID-19 vaccinations. Vaccines are safe and the most effective way to combat the spread of COVID-19, and to ensure that you, your colleagues, and your loved ones remain safe.
In solidarity,
Trevor Hansen, Union Representative
Kevin Smyth, Senior Union Representative
Annette Toth, Vice President of ICBC
