Advanced Education, Skills and Labour
October 27, 2017
Minister Hawkins Announces Selection of Independent Mediator in Labour Dispute
The Honourable Al Hawkins, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour, today announced that John Roil, QC, has been appointed as independent mediator to help facilitate a resolution to the labour dispute between DJ Composites and Unifor Local 597.
DJ Composites and Unifor were notified last week of the decision to engage an independent mediator. Conciliation services have been provided to the parties since August 2016.
The appointment of a mediator is an additional effort to resolve the labour dispute.
Biographical information for Mr. Roil can be found in the backgrounder below.
Quote
“Mr. Roil has extensive training and experience in advanced mediation and arbitration which will be of great value to the parties. This is an excellent opportunity to resolve outstanding issues. I urge the parties to make a determined effort to work with Mr. Roil to bring an end to the dispute.”
Honourable Al Hawkins
Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour
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Ryan Crocker
Advanced Education, Skills and Labour
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BACKGROUNDER
Biographical Information
John Roil obtained a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in 1968 from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree in 1971 from Dalhousie University, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in 1972 from the University of London, England. He was called to the Newfoundland and Labrador Bar in 1972 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1988. In the early 1990s he obtained additional training in Advanced Mediation and ADR techniques from the University of Windsor Law School.
For more than 29 years, Mr. Roil was in engaged in the private practice of law in the province, appearing regularly in various courts and tribunals. In later years, his practice focused primarily on labour and employment law plus alternative dispute resolution.
In 2001, Mr. Roil left his private law practice and took employment as Corporate Counsel and Corporate Secretary with Marine Atlantic Inc. In 2008, he was appointed Interim President & CEO of that corporation. He retired from Marine Atlantic early in 2009, but later in the same year, accepted a position as Senior Legal Counsel with the Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry (the ‘Wells Inquiry’).
Since the completion of the Wells Inquiry, Mr. Roil has been engaged on a full-time basis as a consensual third-party neutral chosen by the parties, as well accepting appointments on ad hoc investigative assignments, such as the 2011 Vale Inquiry (into a lengthy mining strike in Labrador) and to conduct a 2013 review of the Legal Aid Commission in the Province. He is a named arbitrator on many of the Special Project Collective Agreements within the province, such as those for the construction of the Long Harbour Nickel Plant, the Hebron Offshore Platform, the Muskrat Falls Hydroelectric Plant and the Lower Churchill Transmission Line.
Mr. Roil resides in Corner Brook.
2017 10 27 1:20 p.m.