Arbitration Award Overturned in Participation Agreement Dispute
August 19, 2026
The British Columbia Labour Relations Board (“Board”) set aside an arbitration award that required an employer to enter into a Participation Agreement after finding that the arbitrator had failed to provide adequate reasons for the award.
The employer and the union entered into a settlement agreement requiring the employer to work with the Unifor Multi-Employer Pension Plan (“MEPP”) toward signing an agreement to participate in MEPP by April 10, 2025. The union later grieved the employer’s refusal to sign the Participation Agreement. The employer argued that the Settlement Agreement did not require the employer to sign a Participation Agreement, only to work with MEPP to sign a Participation Agreement. The employer also noted that the Participation Agreement referred to MEPP as a defined benefit plan, but the applicable Collective Agreement did not require the employer to provide a defined benefit plan.
The arbitrator accepted the union’s position and ordered the employer to sign the Participation Agreement. The employer challenged the award to the Board, arguing that it had been denied a fair hearing because the decision did not explain how the arbitrator reached that conclusion.
The Board agreed with the employer, finding that the lack of reasons made it difficult to understand the basis for the decision or assess whether the outcome was justified. As a result, the award was set aside, and the matter was referred to a different arbitrator for reconsideration. The Board also rejected the union’s request that the matter should be remitted back to the original arbitrator with directions, noting that the objective perception of fairness is best served by referring the matter to a new arbitration panel for adjudication.
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