June 5, 2015 at 6:00 PM
PDF - Notes from Negotes
Strike mandate gives Air Canada bargaining committee important leverage
Local 2002 members at Air Canada have come out in
full support of their bargaining committee with a strike mandate of 95 per cent.
"Unifor is prepared to defend the work of our
membership at all costs," says Local 2002 president Cheryl Robinson. "With the
overwhelming support of our membership we know that we will be successful."
Members are angry at the company’s blatant show of
disrespect for their collective agreement and the collective bargaining process.
Tame the beast and return the work
Earlier this year, Air Canada derailed
negotiations by refusing to defend good jobs and scope work blaming the GTAA for
the loss of work involving wheelchair assistance. Unifor refused to allow the
company to bypass the collective agreement and put job security in jeopardy and
took the company to arbitration.
On Monday June 1, the arbitrator ruled in the
union’s favour instructing Air Canada to get back our work (using the dispute
resolution mechanism). Unifor President Jerry Dias has called on the federal
government and Air Canada instructing them to tame the monster they have created
in the GTAA and return our scope work, as per the arbitrator’s ruling. We will
continue to keep you informed with our progress.
Great expectations
Air Canada is making record
profits ($122 million in profits in the first quarter) share prices are soaring
and company executives are being richly rewarded. CEO Calin Rovenescu
acknowledges that the company’s success is "only possible due to the hard work,
dedication and commitment of all Air Canada employees."
In the past when the company had to go on a strict
diet because the wolves were at the door, employees willingly tightened their
belts. Now that the company is feasting at a banquet members want and deserve
more than the scraps. But instead of giving, the company wants to take away.
In doing so, they have missed the perfect
opportunity to demonstrate that they truly and sincerely care about the welfare
of their employees.
Respect is earned
Members want and deserve respect
in the workplace and at the bargaining table. They want and deserve job security
and to make progress.
Let’s start a conversation about R.E.S.P.E.C.T in
the workplace and in collective bargaining and what that means to us. And with a
95 per cent strike mandate, lets hope the company is respectfully listening.
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/15-06-05 Air Canada notes from egotes HTML en.txt