January 10, 2009 at 12:00 AM
On Jan 5th, a conference call was held with Arbitrator Martin Teplitsky regarding the "Time Stamping" issue which had remained unresolved from December 3, 2008. Both the Bargaining Committee and the Company expressed concerns over Mr. Teplitsky’s "One Word" award regarding the issue from the December hearing.
The Company’s concern was that the one word award, "Settled" still gave them the right to go ahead and implement the "Swiping" for individual tasks via another letter of “Explanation” to the Union. This letter of "Explanation" was to replace the letters previously signed in agreement with the Union.
The Union obviously contended that this was not the case and that the Grievance had been upheld as it was presented. After lengthy discussions, it was decided that a more concise arbitration hearing (possibly with Legal Council) was required to resolve this dispute. Although unsettled by the situation, the Bargaining Committee took this approach as it was concerned that the one word award set forth previously could be appealed by the Company through the Judicial Review Process and overturned due to lack of explanation. Therefore February 16, 2009 has been set for the Arbitration Hearing.
We will keep you informed as this process continues.
Jazz Tech Bargaining Committee,
John Murawesky, Jazz Tech Bargaining Committee Chair
Peter Brown, YYC
Ian Waite, YXU
Ghobud Khorasani, YYZ
Daniel Marion, YUL
Dave Gylland, YHZ
Roberto Lampasona, Tech II