October 8, 2019 at 3:30 PM
Arbitrator Tom Hodges has issued his final award with regards to the “small base” grievances filed by Unifor Air Canada and Unifor Jazz Aviation.
The small bases and members who could be potentially be impacted by this award include: Charlottetown, Moncton, Saint John, Quebec City, Thunder Bay, Regina, Saskatoon, and Whitehorse.
The award is quite substantial, and both Unifor groups will require time to analyze the award and seek clarification from the arbitrator for certain provisions contained therein.
Highlights of the award include:
The Arbitrator has found that Unifor Air Canada did not give up its rights to work in the small bases, based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from 2015.
That "… the evidence establishes that Small Bases can transition back to Air Canada based on established principles. Comingling of employees under two collective agreement in a Small Base is to be avoided. A shift in the preponderance of work must be established as both existing and projected. Incidental aircraft should not impact the consideration for transfer."
That should a "preponderance" of Air Canada flying in to one of these Small Bases result in a base obtaining a "60% seat threshold for 2 consecutive schedules it will complete the transition. Calculating the 60% threshold will not include incidental or ad hoc schedule aircraft. Once a transition is completed it will not transition back to the previous employer until a 2-year period has elapsed. Given the existing scheduling uncertainty and the 737 max fleet situation transitioning will not result until the thresholds set out above are established and confirmed by the 2020 summer schedule."
We recognize that there are many unanswered questions with regards to the award. Once we have been able to establish the Arbitrator's clear intent, we will be sure to update the membership with specific details.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through the Award details. Unifor will be seeking clarification to ensure that the information that is being provided to you, is accurate and fully encompassing of the Award at hand.
/19-10-08 small base update en.txt