TORONTO, ON – PSAV employees regularly working at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in downtown Toronto are now represented by IATSE Local 58.
Local 58’s application for certification seeking to represent these workers was originally filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board back in January 2017. A vote took place in the normal course shortly thereafter, but the ballot box was sealed in order to deal with a number of challenges filed by PSAV that sought to take issue with, among other things, the bargaining unit description and the number of employees in the bargaining unit.
On September 15, 2017, after days of hearings and the filing of written submissions, the Labour Board ruled in Local 58’s favour, finding a bargaining unit consisting of PSAV employees regularly working at the Sheraton was appropriate. PSAV sought reconsideration of that decision but PSAV’s arguments were eventually dismissed by the Board. On May 29, 2018, the Labour Board then ruled in Local 58’s favour again on the employee status dispute issue. PSAV sought to reconsider that decision as well, but once again, their arguments were eventually dismissed by the Board, setting the stage for a ballot count.
The perseverance of both the PSAV employees and Local 58 finally paid off with the unsealing of the ballot box on October 22, 2018 to reveal overwhelming support in favour of Local 58. The Labour Board then issued a decision on October 26, 2018 confirming Local 58’s certification as the exclusive bargaining agent for these PSAV employees. Not surprisingly, however, PSAV has communicated its intention to judicially review Local 58’s certification.
Local 58, with the assistance of the IATSE, has every intention of vigorously and successfully defending its recently acquired bargaining rights before the courts. In the interim, Local 58 will be giving PSAV notice to bargain and commencing negotiations for a first collective agreement with a view to securing the fair and long-awaited terms and conditions of employment that these PSAV employees so rightly deserve.