July 2023 Newsletter
One Year Anniversary
This marks the one year anniversary since I took office as Bargaining Representative for the Central Region. It continues to be a very rewarding experience as I get to know more members from across the country and especially within our Region, which makes up 45% of the total Air Canada membership. Every day brings new challenges and opportunities to help make our workplace better, and I want to thank members of the Central Region for your continued trust and support.
YTO-RES Jamboree
On July 21, 2023, YTO-RES had their second annual Jamboree. The Bargaining Committee was in town for meetings and were invited to attend. It was great to see both Union and management participating in this joint event. Thank you District Chair Satya Singh for the invitation and your amazing hospitality.
Annual Time Bank Deposit: For September 1, 2023
Article 7.08.04: On September 1st of each calendar year, the Company will deposit into each full-time employee’s time bank the following hours:
Employees with less than 15 years of company service – 16 hours
Employees with greater than 15 years: 48 hours
NOTE:
● The amount is half for Part Time employees.
● To be eligible you must have worked at least one day within the previous year.
● If you have a time bank, the hours will be deposited into your time bank, otherwise the hours will be shown on your pay stub.
● Layoff and LOAs will affect your company service date and your new company service date will be used to determine eligibility.
Workload at all Work Locations
Once again it is the busy summer season and flights are full. The media is reporting that the company has more staff than the summer of 2019 but some departments are in fact well below this figure. I don’t want to get into specifics about this as there is an arbitration scheduled in September for this very issue with CJM.
For the time being, I want to remind everyone not to put your personal health and wellbeing at risk as workloads increase. It is important to always take your breaks in all work areas including Reservations, CJM or Airports.
The increase in workload and the impacts on operations extends beyond just Air Canada. The CEO of the GTAA recently had a press conference on this as the number of cancellations and delays had increased.
Telework (Work from Home): 48 hours notice required if requested to come into the office under LOU34
If you receive a call or email requesting that you attend an in-person meeting at the Contact Centre, you must be given 48 hours notice. The company may ask you to come in with less than 48 hours notice, but you do NOT need to agree. You are entitled to 48 hours so that you can make any necessary arrangements in your life outside of work. Complete language below:
L34.09 Employees requested to attend in office for matters other than an emergency or disruption will be given a minimum of forty-eight hours (48) advance notification. This provision does not apply to disciplinary matters.
The full LOU34 can be found on this link:
https://www.unifor2002.org/UNF/files/1f/1fe1e2bc-aa0f-4237-8f7d-0b20e81c0b1a.pdf
LOE issued for not guarding the printer/gate/paperwork:
The company has issued a Letter of Expectation (LOE) against a member in the Pacific region for having left their position at a departure gate so that they could print their OSL, as the printer at the assigned gate was not functioning. The company alleges the agent had moved on to other tasks and the OSL did print at the original gate area when it was unattended. This OSL was not shredded and no TR# was recorded.
The local managers issued a Letter of Expectation arguing what happened is a breach of procedures. This will not be the last time a printer malfunctions, so to protect yourself against an LOE in case of a printer malfunction, make sure to always obtain a TR# from the Airport Authority/Amadeus Help desk and advise management of the situation before proceeding to your next task. Please see the full Air Canada Bargaining Committee bulletin to avoid putting yourself in this situation:
GHO and VPP Deadline:
Want more Vacation time in 2024?
The GHO and VPP deadline is 23:59 on September 15, 2023 for the following year. No exceptions are possible if you miss the deadline. For full details please see the link below. Any questions please contact your District Union office:
