The B.C. Labour Relations Board has ruled against the union that arbitrarily dismissed a grievance filed by a Kamloops transit driver who was suspended for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to a decision last week by board vice-chair David Chesman, Glenda Roselle was suspended from her position as a Kamloops transit operator in 2021 for non-compliance with a COVID-19 vaccination policy.
Roselle’s union, Unifor Local Union 114, filed a grievance with her employer, First Transit Canada, in which Roselle stated she was “unjustly removed” from her role for not being fully vaccinated. She claimed it breached the collective agreement and the BC Human Rights Code.
She claimed she applied for a religious exemption before her suspension, but it was denied.
Roselle's grievance over the issue was withdrawn by the union in 2023.
The union said it informed Roselle her grievance was being withdrawn when she quit her job in 2022 because it had "become null."
Chesman said further correspondence between Roselle and a union representative was inconsistent with the claim she was told the grievance was dropped.
Roselle claimed the union never clearly stated it was no longer pursuing her grievance and when she tried to appeal the withdrawal, she was told she couldn’t because a 30-day time limit to do so had passed.
A national representative would later apologize to Roselle for the “miscommunication” and directed the union to provide her with the appeal information.
The local representative then refused again to provide Roselle with the appeal information, stating again the timeline for the request for appeal had passed.
Chesman would ultimately side with Roselle, calling the exchanges “communication failures that adversely impacted [her] legal rights and interests.”
He ordered the union to tell Roselle why her grievance was dropped and allow her to pursue an appeal of its decision within 30 days if she choses, effectively putting her back to where she was before the union erred.
