- May 25, 2021
- Collective Agreement Interpretation
On January 23, 2017, Arbitrator Lefebvre rendered two decisions in interest arbitrations: one with respect to a first collective agreement between the Union and the Ste-Foy Cinema; and second with respect to a first collective agreement between the Union and the Laval Cinema (“the Decisions”). In the Decisions, the Arbitrator considered twenty-six items on which the parties had not reached an agreement.
Cineplex Entertainment LP and Famous Players Partnership Limited filed an application for judicial review and a stay with the Superior Court of Quebec further to both decisions of Arbitrator Lefebvre. In the present decision, the Court considered the Applicants’ request for a stay of the Decisions pending the outcome of the application for judicial review. Specifically, the applicants challenged the Arbitrator’s ruling regarding wages. In their view, they and the Union had agreed that the Arbitrator’s order regarding wages would not be retroactive and would only become effective on the date of the Decisions. However, in the Decisions, Arbitrator Lefebvre ordered that the new wages were retroactive to February 27, 2015.
The Court found that there was a serious issue to be tried, that irreparable harm would be caused if the stay was not granted, and that the balance of convenience favoured the granting of the stay. Therefore, the Court ordered that the Decisions be stayed until the determination of application for judicial review.