Friday February 18 2022
The third hearing on the merit of the National Grievance against Canada Post’s Mandatory Vaccination Practice was held on February 12, 2022. It followed hearings held on December 16, 2021, and January 18, 2022. Below is a brief recap of all the hearings:
December 16, 2021
At this hearing, both parties made lengthy opening statements. We outlined the sequence of events, the evidence we intended to present to the Arbitrator, and the legal question that the Arbitrator would have to assess.
January 18, 2022
As reported in bulletin #338, during this hearing, CPC cross-examined Carl Girouard, National Grievance Officer, on his lengthy affidavit and other documents, such as Union bulletins.
February 12, 2022
This hearing was scheduled to present the evidence from each party’s expert witness. Prior to their testimony, the experts filed a short affidavit and also updated their reports since their testimony at the Cease-and-Desist Application hearing. Both reports were updated in light of the rapidly evolving scientific and medical literature and findings.
CUPW conducted a direct examination of our expert witness, who was then cross-examined by the employer’s council on his current and past report in these proceedings, as well as previous reports and recommendations. His evidence included recent recommendations and opinions from the Ontario Science Table on rapid testing. He also provided evidence on the efficacy of vaccination in the context of the Omicron variant, and the evolving findings on efficacy and processes for rapid testing.
CPC then proceeded to the direct examination of their own expert witness which was followed by CUPW’s cross-examination. Unfortunately, we were not able to finish this cross-examination; it will resume during our next hearing scheduled for March 21, 2022.
In Solidarity,