In a decision released this week, referee Gabriel Somjen noted that BC Hydro CEO described the options faced by senior management with vaccinations as “the most difficult decision of their careers”. However, despite the impact on 44 members of the International Brotherhood of Electricians Workers who were forced to take unpaid leave as a result of their vaccination regime, Somien said the demand was justified. “Having considered the interests of the 44 employees, BC Hydro, the employees, the customers, the contractors and the public, I conclude that the policy makes sense,” Somjen wrote. “The interests that led to politics outweigh the significant intrusion into the interests of the 44 employees.”

Deaths and outbreaks

The case removes the veil over the thoughts that BC, the largest company in BC, had when it decided how to balance the individual rights of its 6,600 employees with those of its partners and the public it works with before the introduction of a vaccine order last October. The decision paints a bleak picture of COVID-19 tolls in the body. BC Hydro introduced a mandatory vaccination policy for its employees in October 2021. A working referee ratified the policy following a union complaint. (Matilde Campodonico / The Associated Press)
BC Hydro has seen two major outbreaks in the Site C hydroelectric dam project in the northeast of the province and a third outbreak in the Surrey Services Construction Business group. “The employer observed positive and suspicious positive cases in the workplace over time and concluded that about 50 percent of BC Hydro employees belonged to this category,” Somjen wrote. “A contractor working on a BC Hydro project died of COVID. Two spouses of BC Hydro employees died of COVID-19. Some BC Hydro employees needed hospitalization and some experienced ‘long-term COVID’.”

The policy was reconsidered after employees expressed concerns

According to the ruling, BC Hydro initially rejected the idea of ​​compulsory vaccination, but backed down last fall after some workers expressed concerns about the need for protection from infection by their colleagues. Customers and partners also insisted that only vaccinated staff enter their facilities, including helicopter pilots hired to transport staff to facilities, hospitals, construction sites, long-term care facilities, BC Place and Vancouver Airport. A plane is preparing to take off at Vancouver Airport. YVR was one of many companies that told BC Hydro that its employees should be vaccinated. (Mike Hillman / CBC)
“In addition, vaccines were imposed on Tsay Keh Dene, Kwadacha, Nuxalk, Gitga’at, Heiltsuk and Haida Gwaii,” Somjen wrote. Most members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are red seals, ticket dealers who work as electricians, engineers and others in the installation, operation and maintenance of the BC electrical grid. The union filed a complaint against the order in November 2021, arguing that BC Hydro’s existing policies were effective in controlling the spread of the virus. “The union argued that there were fewer intervention measures that the employer could have taken,” Somien wrote. “The association argues that less intrusive measures should have been considered and attempted, such as rapid antigen testing in the trading unit or other mitigation measures.”

Unjust threat of discipline

BC Hydro responded that it had “valid and important reasons” for introducing the vaccination policy. “Less intervention measures such as rapid antigen testing have not been as effective as vaccination,” Somjen wrote. “It’s a duty as a key service provider to provide and sustain energy to British Colombians. It must have a healthy, safe and adequate workforce to meet this mandate.” An aerial photograph captures a view of the construction of diversion tunnels at the construction site of site C. Site has seen two cases of COVID-19. (BC Hydro / Contribution)
Somjen found the political logic, in part, because union members work in cramped interiors and industrial camps that have been targeted as “high risk” by the provincial health official. While the referee upheld the order, he said a phrase in the policy describing the rules was unfair because it referred to the threat of discipline to continue non-vaccination. “Just as BC Hydro’s decision to enforce the policy was difficult, these workers made the difficult decision not to be vaccinated, resulting in a loss of income,” Somjen wrote. “The employer has achieved its health and safety goal of having only vaccinated employees working in this negotiating unit. Adding possible discipline at this time will not reinforce this goal, but will further affect employees.”