March 31, 2015 at 4:30 PM
PDF - Notes from Negotes 
This past weekend, your Unifor bargaining committee
worked extensively in hopes of reaching a tentative agreement for our CSSA
members at Air Canada.
Since opening talks with the Company at the end of
January, much progress had been made. A great deal of non-monetary issues had
been signed off and the committee was optimistic that a deal could be reached
that would provide monetary gains, job security and overall improvements for its
members.
However, progress came to a halt late last night
when Air Canada refused to involve itself with an ongoing issue concerning
wheelchair work at the Greater Toronto Airport Authority. The GTAA is demanding
that all work involving servicing passengers requiring wheelchair/special
assistance be outsourced at Pearson International Airport. This demand would
result in a 50% pay cut for approximately 130 workers.
"This disregard for workers at Air Canada in
Toronto is just the beginning of a larger issue of contract flipping that could
affect Air Canada members in all locations," said Cheryl Robinson, Unifor Local
2002 President. "The practice of ‘contract flipping’ is legal but unethical and
gives employers, such as the GTAA, an opportunity to cut costs at the expense of
its employees."
Unifor President Jerry Dias arrived in Toronto this
weekend to join talks and support the Local 2002 bargaining committee. Mr. Dias
spoke with Kevin Howlett, Senior Vice President at Air Canada as well as Howard
Eng, President and CEO at the GTAA in hopes of bringing this issue to a close.
However, both companies are unwilling to engage with each other to save these
members’ jobs and keep this work at Air Canada.
Additionally, there is a compounded issue
pertaining to Jazz work relating to the Capacity Purchase Agreement (CPA) with
Air Canada. The newly amended CPA - which went into effect earlier this year -
puts our work at Jazz under potential threat. Jazz work in many of our bases
forms a significant part of the overall airport operation.
At this juncture there are no additional talks
scheduled between Unifor and Air Canada.
We will keep you updated as events unfold.
In solidarity,
Your Air Canada Bargaining Committee
Veronica Kelly, Pacific region
Joanne Goulet, Western region
Frances Galambosy, Chairperson - Central region
Benoit Lapointe, Eastern
region
Tammy Moore, Atlantic region
Cheryl Robinson, Local 2002 President
Leslie Dias, National Representative
Connect with Unifor 2002 on social media
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