Reference no: EM132943473

Question

For more than 15 years, CUPE (union) had represented a 125-member bargaining unit of employees who worked at the hospital located outside of Ottawa. The parties' most recent collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was set to expire on December 19, 2018, and they held their first bargaining sessions on November 21 and 22, 2018. The parties participated in 30 bargaining sessions until their last two sessions on October 10 and 11, 2020. Although they reached tentative agreements on several provisions, they were unable to reach a complete agreement. The day before the last two scheduled sessions, the union put out a media statement saying that the hospital has no intention of settling or respecting the union. On November 22, 2018, the hospital bargaining team withdrew some of the previously agreed upon previsions arguing that they had not come to an overall agreement, and as such, were changing their position on some of these matters.

On October 25, 2020, the hospital received a disaffection petition signed by a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit. The following morning, the hospital emailed the union to inform it that because the hospital had received evidence showing the union had lost the support of the majority of their bargaining unit employees, it was withdrawing recognition of the union immediately. The hospital also cancelled all future bargaining sessions. In response, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge, claiming the hospital had engaged in bad faith bargaining, and thus, could not lawfully withdraw recognition. As tensions rose, several employees in non-critical area of the hospital walked off the job in the afternoon on October 25, 2020 to show their displeasure at the hospital and support for their union. They were all terminated by the hospital the following day with the cause.

-You are a neutral third party that has been asked to come in and try to move things along. What would a neutral third party do in this situation and Why?