Envoy Air – Unifor Local 2002 Files for Conciliation

Envoy Air – Unifor Local 2002 Files for Conciliation

September 12, 2017 at 5:30 PM


On September 8, 2017, Unifor held internal discussions with the District, Local and National Office and decided that it was in our members best interest to file for conciliation. We filed for conciliation to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) for its members at Envoy Air (Ramp, Cabin Services, Lavatory, for American Airlines in Toronto, Terminal 3 - Pearson International airport).
 
Notice to bargain was filed by the union on March 20, 2017. As you are aware your Envoy Air bargaining committee met with the company on May 8th, 2017 to exchange proposals. In addition, your bargaining committee also met with the company on May 25th, June 9th, and July 11 & 12, 2017. Throughout the bargaining process, your committee has been making good progress and have reached agreement on several issues.  However, bargaining is not going as expeditiously as we would like. The union presented our monetary proposals for consideration and based on the initial pass we anticipate resistance from the company concerning these wage increases.
                                                                                                                            
The last collective agreement for Envoy Air expired on March 17, 2017.
 
The conciliation process:
 
Once a Notice of Dispute is filed, the Ministry of Labour has 15 days to appoint a conciliation officer. Once appointed, the officer meets with both parties over a 60-day period to facilitate negotiations. If the parties feel they are close to reaching a resolution they may agree to extend the conciliation period. If not, the parties enter a 21 day "cooling off period” and the officer reports back to the Minister of Labour. While in conciliation, the company may not lock-out employees and the union may not go on strike. Strike action is only ever taken as a last resort and after certain conditions (such as a strike vote and 72 hours ‘advance notice) are met. 
 
Your union is confident that we can achieve a positive agreement for our members at Envoy Air. We are looking forward resuming negotiations, on October 11 & 12, 2017. We will continue to keep our membership informed of any further developments. Please ensure that you have subscribed to Unifor 2002’s e-news service at www.unifor2002.org.

 
For more information, please contact:
Ashley Watkins, Assistant to the Local President