- Parties: The applicant was Unifor Marine Workers Federation, Local 1. The respondents were Halifax Shipyard, a Division of Irving Shipbuilding Inc., and Scott Sterns, arbitrator. 

- Subject Matter: The applicant union filed a policy grievance alleging that the respondent shipyard breached article 14.08 of a collective agreement when it stopped paying double time on “early starts,” which occurred when employees were required to begin work before the start time for their regular shift. The arbitrator’s award dismissed the grievance and found that the applicant failed to discharge its burden of proving that article 14.08 provided for the payment of double time for early starts. The applicant requested judicial review of the award. 

- Ruling: The court ruled in the respondents’ favour and dismissed the judicial review application. The court found the outcome justifiable and the award reasonable, transparent, and intelligible. The court held that the award’s reasoning lacked fatal flaws. The court saw no shortcomings upon analyzing the arbitrator’s decision in light of the history and context of the case. When read as a whole as per its reasonableness review, the court determined that the arbitrator’s analysis did not reflect a redundancy but instead a conclusion in line with the collective agreement interpretation principles upon which the parties agreed. 

- Date: The court released its decision on Dec. 2, 2024. 

- Venue: This was a case before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. 

- Amount: The awarded the respondents costs. The court would invite written submissions in case of disagreement.