April 5, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Greetings,
Further to our previous letter to you, we are taking this time today to
update you on recent developments.
As you may know, the GTAA filed an Application with the Canada Industrial
Relations Board (CIRB) that due to the “Sale of Business” which occurred when
they assumed control of Terminal 3, the three bargaining units currently in
existence should be consolidated into one bargaining unit.
As part of the process, the affected parties (CAW & PSAC) had to file
submissions in response to GTAA’s application. To summarize the positions of the
unions:
PSAC has taken the position that there was no “Sale of Business”. Further to
that, if the CIRB rules that there was a “Sale of Business”, a vote should not
be held due to the fact the PSAC represents a majority of the affected workers.
We disagree with PSAC’s position. The CAW’s position is that there was a
“Sale of Business” and that the affected union members (CAW & PSAC) should have
the democratic right to vote on which union they would prefer to represent them.
Now that the submissions have been filed the CIRB will determine if a “Sale
of Business” has taken place. If they determine there was a “Sale of Business”,
they will examine whether or not the bargaining unit structure needs to be
reviewed.
If the CIRB determines a review is necessary they will go back to the parties
(GTAA, PSAC and CAW) to see if this can be resolved between them. If the parties
cannot agree on what structure, the CIRB will rule on a bargaining unit
structure.
After the above process has been conducted, the CIRB will then issue a final
decision on the Application by the GTAA. As you can see this process could take
some time but we will keep all of you posted on any and all future developments.
Your bargaining committee has been meeting with the local and national union
on your behalf and the CAW is taking all possible steps to ensure you have the
democratic right to vote on the union of your choice.