Maple Leaf Consumer Foods is a food company based in Mississauga, Ont. It hired the worker as a millwright in the maintenance department at its Mississauga plant around 2001.
In early 2019, Maple Leaf terminated the worker’s employment for time theft stemming from his being away from his work area for excessive periods of time. However, the union reached an agreement with the company that reinstated the worker with a five-day suspension on his record. However, he was subject to an LCA that would be in effect for 12 months.
Last-chance agreement
The LCA stated that the company, the union, and the worker agreed that if the worker violated the LCA with further misconduct including time theft, he would be immediately terminated without a grievance. The LCA removed an arbitrator’s jurisdiction to mitigate the penalty in the event of a breach, permitting only a determination of whether a violation occurred.
On Feb. 22, 2020, the worker was scheduled to work a 12-hour overtime shift with two 15-minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch period. According to the worker, he was busy, so he took two 30-minute breaks instead as there were no set times to take breaks. It was a Saturday, so there was no production happening and he was working alone fixing a conveyor belt with small welds.
It was company policy to lock out machinery by cutting the power to it before it was worked on, but in this case the worker didn’t. Because he was working alone, he felt that it would have taken him too long to do so, so he only pushed the stop button to repair the belt. According to the worker, it was normal practice for millwrights to not lock out machinery for spot welds, and Maple Leaf was aware of and condoned the practice.