The OLRB weighed in on what fair representation really requires from unions
A veteran Ontario meat plant worker accumulated 45 years of service, nine rounds of progressive discipline, a termination, and an arbitration win — and still never returned to work. On February 24, 2026, Ontario Labour Relations Board Vice-Chair Jordan Kirkness dismissed the application of Wayne Thomas Stokes, who alleged that his union, UFCW 175 & 633, had violated its duty of fair representation under section 74 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, in relation to his employment with Olymel L.P. in Brampton.
Starting in 2012, Stokes worked as a Line Supplier at Olymel's Brampton plant, supplying raw products to fast-moving production lines using a "combo." If he failed to supply the correct materials, the employer's productivity and profitability would be significantly reduced. Between 2021 and 2024, he received nine disciplinary measures, including verbal and written warnings, suspensions of one, three, and five days, and two removals from his Line Supplier role, for infractions involving failing to properly label or scan meat products, obstructing access to a cooler, and supplying wrong materials to production lines.
The culminating incident occurred on April 26, 2024. Stokes supplied the wrong meat to a production line, blocked an entrance with his combo when the line went down, and suggested that an employee working on the line ought to have stopped him before he dumped the wrong meat on the...
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