May 28, 2009 at 12:00 PM
MAY 28, 2009
May was a busy month for me. The following are some of my activities in May.
Executive Board
May 1, 2, 3, 4 – The EB is the governing body of our Local. We meet four times a year to report on our units, go over the Local’s finances, plan education, address political action issues, donations, charges against members, setting policy… basically it is the governance of the affairs of our Local.
Council
May 5,6,7, 8 - Council is a once a year gathering of the District Chairs and Standing Bargaining Committees to hear first hand the presidents report and speaks to the recent events that have accrued in all the units in our Local. The Financial Secretary report deals with a detailed account of the Local’s expenses. This year, the CAW National provided us with discussion leaders. We broke up into smaller work groups and for two days, we attended workshops focusing on education, communications, and bargaining and activism. There is a report on our website that you can view.
Membership Meetings
Many of our bases held membership meetings to get Bargaining updates. I was able to attend all of them this month; Calgary May 12, 13, Halifax May 19, and London May 20th. The meetings were formal and held off site.
EI Seminar
I was able to attend a morning EI seminar May 20 at our Local office in Toronto. The presenter was Laurell Ritchie, CAW National EI specialist. If you would like a copy of my notes, please check with one of your CAW reps.
Monthly conference call
... happened on the morning of May 28th.
- 711: Vancouver – Tom Troughton, John Murawesky
The 8 to 8 shifts are still a problem, and the guys are fed up. It has been very frustrating because everyone at the base level (Union/management) recognizes that this shift is a hardship to the members and doesn’t give the company any more real manpower.
Although CAMFA had some initial traction, there seems to be very little appetite for it now.
We have hired about 10 people since the New Year. We have just had the number one guy on the system seniority list retire. Ben Baerg had a start date of July 15, 1971! Where were you in ’71? A hardy congratulations to Ben and best wishes on your retirement! The new most senior person in the system also resides in Vancouver. Andy Bolderson is our new #1 with a start date of June 10, 1974.
Note: Since this call we have also had Sam Edwards announce his retirement from Jazz. Although Sam is not 65, he does have his “magic number” for travel benefits and will be seeking out other opportunities. Best of luck Sam!
- 712: Calgary/Edmonton/Winnipeg – Peter Brown, Adrien Lebis
Nothing to report grievance wise. We are almost totally staffed, which has not been the case for a very long time. Someone asked if they were still doing gear work in Calgary. We have 5 people in the shop going full bore. The company has gotten extension approvals right from the manufacturer, but if they are worn, they are worn and there isn’t much you can do about that.
It’s hard to find anyone who says they support CAMFA.
Next Union meetings are June 2 & 3.
- 713: London – Michel Ruffie, Ian Waite, Nick Lewis
London wants to split the health and safety committee so that Toronto and London has their own. Anees (Toronto H&S) said that Transport Canada has ruled that we should split up the two bases. They will need a Co-Chair on each committee. He asked if there was a process to appoint the two Chairs because he hasn’t seen any posting or consultation on it. Don contacted Ben who said he thought that splitting the two bases made sense. The London H&S Committee will be Maintenance/CSA/ACS groups, while Toronto will have the Pilot and F/A groups as well. The Co-Chairs for each base will be selected by the committee, from within the committee, for a two year term. Ben will not be a Co-Chair but will be available as a resource and will oversee the process to ensure that it is done properly. He thought that both groups would have their Co-Chairs in Place before the end of June.
Michel said that he was looking to ensure that job postings had a start date, and that would help solve a lot of problems with postings. He has three grievances related to article 12 due to the lack of start dates. John thought that there was an LOU that speaks to that. He will dig it up and send it to everyone.
Michel feels he is being singled out and faces threats and intimidation from a couple of supervisors. A grievance has been filed. There are some crews that don’t have representation and Michel wants to be able to come in and fill the gaps without being questioned or harassed.
As far as CAMFA, no one he’s talked to figures there is any support in London.
- 714: Montreal/QC/Ottawa – Robbie Lampasona
Not much to report. Roberto sent out a communiqué to the Tech 2 people and Tom confirmed it was posted in Vancouver. He has only had one reply from Toronto.
There isn’t anyone posting anything or showing any interest in CAMFA in Montreal.
A question was raised about Hangar Attendants, and it was determined that most bases have more than one.
- 715: Halifax – Dave Gylland, Corey Robinson, Pat McNiven
Pat- we recently had one member fired for unjust reasons. The company is getting more heavy-handed in Halifax.
Upholstery shops in Halifax are being told they are only here to support heavy, so all other work is going to Calgary. Mike said that there was once an upholstery classification in line… they make less than furnishings. Way back when, we had sewers but they got squashed in the CCAA process. Peter said that Maze wanted to start up a sewing shop to make prop ties, cargo nets and things. He had someone on leave that came back, but it did not work out. The furnishings/sewing vacancy here in YYC is being filled. The successful applicant is currently going through the initial hiring stuff and is expected to start in June. There will be no furnishings disruptions at any other bases as a result of this position. This seems to be a supplemental position.
We heard that prop blades are not coming to Halifax anymore, but they are not going to Calgary. So where are they going? Peter checked it out with Maze and the Company says that they have no intention of contracting that out, and Halifax will continue to do them. John said that Rajib had said that nothing is being contracted out.
Peter asks if anyone has any other issues or questions about the shops to contact him directly and he can get you direct answers. He knows there is lots of tension and animosity with the illusion that all the shops are moving to YYC. They are not, and if he can do anything to dispel this, let him know. We still need to be vigilant with components as the expediters have been known to ship them out by mistake.
- 716-Toronto – Ghobud Khorasani, Mike Lilly, Stuart Warren, Mike Kingston, Anees Munchi
Mike L. reports that he has only had to write 6 grievances, with one resolved. He even had some informal ones resolved! There is a positive difference in union/management relations that is felt right down to the floor level. We still do not know at this point if the new Base Manager will be staying in that position fulltime.
Unfortunately we still have two open Vice Chair positions, and currently only one side is covered by Union Reps. Don has put in an official request to have Mike’s shift changed to help alleviate this.
Mike K. said that his members in Toronto want to know who is sitting at the Bargaining table for the company - Collin Copp, Kirk Newhook… they are both sporadic, but usually one or the other attend. Rajib Roy is the Labour Relations anchor. Richard Steer, Kal Rebin, Bernie Adamache, Michel Sharma, and Elizabeth Gibson White normally attend. The Company has a number cruncher that also attends named Glen.
Bargaining Update
John gave an update that can be read on the posted Bargaining Committee bulletins. At this point the Conciliator has been identified but not appointed. Once appointed, the 60 day clock starts ticking, and then he turns into a Mediator for another 21 days. As John has stated before, this is just part of the process as laid out in the Federal Labour code. Bargaining will continue as planned.
Joe Randell has apparently stated; come hell or high water he wants Jazz to go forward. They fully intend to stay a growing concern even if we need to go head to head with AC in the domestic market, although at this point, no one is predicting the future.
Local Website
The Local’s new website has been launched. You will notice a new look and things have changed around a bit. You can still find it at www.caw2002tca.ca I encourage our members to go on the site and have a look. The new website features dedicated space for each unit. Jazz Tech has it’s own section. All you do is go to the Unit Directory at the top of the home page, pick Jazz from the drop down menu, and then Jazz Tech from the side menu. It sounds more complicated than it is. Once on the Jazz Tech page, you will see the latest bulletins, contact information, and the ever popular Calendar for events at the bottom that will include:
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June 2 & 3 – Calgary membership meetings
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June 16 & 17 – Bargaining
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June 23 & 24 – Bargaining
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June 25 – Next Teplitsky Review
In Solidarity,
Don Ross
CAW VP Local 2002
Jazz Technical Services
(800) 932-4564 ext: *5004