Vogue Theatre v. Local 118 [2002] B.C.LR.B.D. no. 264 (BC Labour Relations Board)

First of two decisions.  The local certified a group of front of house employees and then “traded off” this group in exchange for a voluntary recognition of a group of technical employees.  The Theatre subsequently applied for various rulings on the validity of the collective agreement for the unit of technical employees.  In particular, the Theatre argued that the (i) agreement was of no force or effect because its negotiator had no actual or apparent authority to enter into the agreement; (ii) that the Theatre was not the true employer of the technical employees; and (iii) that the collective agreement respecting the technical group of employees was invalid because the “trade off” was a breach of the local’s duty of fair representation.  The Board found (i) that while the negotiator did not have actual authority to enter into the agreement he did have apparent authority; i.e., there was nothing to lead the local to question its belief that the negotiator had the apparent authority to bargain; (ii) that the Theatre was the true employer of the technical employees (i.e., although payment of wages was done through IA Trust, Theatre dealt day-to-day employment issues, discipline, etc.); and (iii) that arbitrarily “trading off” the front of house unit without consultation could constitute a breach of the local’s duty of fair representation; however, this would not justify undoing the voluntary recognition nor the agreement respecting the technical employees.

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