UPEI violated P.E.I.’s health and safety act during pandemic, board rules | CBC News

An arbitration board has ruled that the University of Prince Edward Island was in breach of P.E.I.’s Occupational Health and Safety Act two years ago when it failed to inform staff about plans to have international students self-isolate on campus at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The three-person board issued its ruling last week in response to two grievances filed by the UPEI Faculty Association (UPEIFA).

The arbitrators said university administrators should have told staff when the students were arriving, where they would be housed, and what precautions were in place to prevent exposure to the virus.

The lack of that kind of information was described by the board as “a complete failure of communication with workers.”

The board also ruled in favour of the faculty association on other concerns, including ventilation in a number of classrooms that did not meet international standards. As well, it concluded the administration tried to limit the mandate of the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC) on campus, and prevent members of the committee from speaking publicly about their concerns.

“We were very confident that that was going to be the conclusion,” said Michael Arfken, the president of the UPEI Faculty Association. “We’re focused on going forward.”

How it got to this point

The faculty association filed grievances on Sept. 7, 2021, and Feb. 11, 2022, alleging that UPEI’s administration violated the collective agreement and the P.E.I. Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).

According to the ruling, UPEI denied the allegations in the grievances and the complaints were referred to the arbitration board, made up of one member appointed by UPEI, one by the faculty association, and one more mutually agreed upon by the two appointees. Hearings on the complaints were heard in January of this year.

The Faculty Association’s two grievances argued that UPEI was responsible for multiple violations. Some of the allegations include:

• Failing to ensure faculty weren’t exposed to hazards listed under the P.E.I. Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• Failing to consult and co-operate with the UPEI Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee on policies and/or procedures.
• Failing to notify that committee of the existence of reports of occupational health and safety inspections.
• Intimidating or coercing a faculty association representative who sought to have the provincial workplace safety legislation enforced and/or acted in compliance with the provincial legislation.
• Unfairly and unreasonably interfering in the operations of the UPEI health and safety committee.

The complaints revolved around three primary issues: the self-isolation of students on campus, the lack of proper ventilation in UPEI buildings, and the functionality of the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee.

Student self-isolation

One August 2021 incident on campus sparked a complaint that the UPEI administration did not inform staff, campus unions and JOHSC members of self-isolation plans for incoming students.

“For reasons which are not clear from the record,” the arbitration report said, two students were self-isolating at the Blanchard Hall residence instead of Bernardine Hall, the designated self-isolation building for students.

Because COVID-19 on-campus protocols and procedures weren’t forwarded to UPEI’s frontline staff, a worker was exposed to at least one student who had not completed isolation.

The board ruled that one way to mitigate risk was to “inform all workers on campus” about where the students would be housed and what precautions were in place to avoid exposures. 

“There was ample time for the employer to make sure all campus workers were informed. However, based on the record, it appears that the employer took no steps to inform workers, including those who worked in the buildings where the self-isolating students were to be housed,” the arbitration ruling said. 

“As a result, there was an unfortunate exposure when the first students arrived. The employer acknowledges that there was a ‘lapse in communication.’ It would be fair to say there was a complete failure of communication with workers prior to the arrival of the international students on campus.” 

UPEI ventilation

As for the alleged lack of ventilation in UPEI classrooms, MCA Consultants did an analysis from September to November of 2021 to see how well the university’s existing systems were able to filter viruses like COVID-19 from recirculating air.

Its report was sent on Nov. 26 to Jackie Podger, who was then UPEI’s vice president administration and finance. The final report was ready to share with the JOHSC by Dec. 10, but the UPEIFA’s request for UPEI to release the report went unanswered.

By Jan. 19, 2022, Podger had told staff that UPEI decided to install portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters in 16 classrooms.

The complaint in this instance is that UPEI did not provide the final report to JOHSC in a reasonable timeframe.

“The board finds that the employer did not meet its obligation… by failing to provide the MCA Report to the JOHSC, or at least notifying it of the existence of the report, on a timely basis,” the board said. 

“It should have done so by December 10 or 11 at the latest. There was no legitimate reason to keep the JOHSC in the dark about the report for an additional five weeks.” 

‘Personal bickering’ at JOHSC

The campus’s Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee became a point of contention between the UPEI Faculty Association and the administration.

UPEI argues that Arfken, the faculty association president, was “adversarial” and would relentlessly pursue union issues at JOHSC meetings. The association would go on to launch a legal strike in March of this year as it sought a new collective agreement with the university. 

Meanwhile, the UPEIFA said the administration as a whole and Podger specifically were “trying to control” the committee and “shutting down” discussion of health and safety issues. The university placed Podger on administrative leave this past June after receiving a third-party report that was highly critical of UPEI’s workplace culture.

The board found that there was “a most undesirable state of affairs,” adding that the committee “performs an important role in the workplace and is intended to operate impartially in dealing with issues of health and safety.

“It is not a body where partisan labour issues should play a significant role. Neither is it a place for personal bickering.” 

The board also said UPEI had an “overly narrow interpretation” of the role of the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, which it said could explain why UPEI didn’t consult with the committee about its fall 2021 pandemic plans or reveal the ventilation report to staff promptly.

The faculty association says it’s up to UPEI administrators to come up with a plan to address the concerns raised in the grievances.

“Now that the university has this information, now that the province has this information, what do they plan to do? How do they plan to assure the campus community that they take their legitimate health and safety concerns seriously? In our view, we have a bit of a crisis around that,” Arfken said. 

The ruling is not just a win for us, it’s a win for Island workers.— Michael Arfken, UPEIFA

“The ruling is not just a win for us, it’s a win for Island workers.”

Nobody from the UPEI administration was made available for an interview about the ruling.

“The arbitration board does not suggest a requirement for any action on behalf of the university other than to acknowledge the findings,” a spokesperson for the institution said in an emailed statement Wednesday afternoon.

“The university acknowledges the findings of the arbitration board and continues to be committed to working with the university community to create a safe and inclusive teaching, learning, and work environment.”