November 4, 2016 at 9:04 AM
On October 27 and 28,
Unifor Local 2002 leadership from Jazz Aviation met in Toronto to strategize for the next round of bargaining. The collective agreement for nearly 1000 customer and aircraft service members in 42 bases across the country expires January 13, 2017.
Unifor National Assistant to the Secretary Treasurer Jenny Ahn, Local 2002 President Cheryl Robinson, Assistant to the President Josee Genois, Regional Vice-Presidents Christine Bower and Sandra Cormier, and communications co-ordinator Delia Gaskill were on hand to support the group and answer questions.
“I’m excited to see such a dedicated and enthusiastic group of representatives,” said President Cheryl Robinson as she welcomed the group. “Our solidarity sends the company a clear message that it’s time—time to respect our current collective agreement and time for progress in the next!”
The bargaining committee led discussions surrounding the mobilization of our members in the upcoming contract negotiations. The high rate of surveys completed and submitted indicates that the membership are primed and pumped for progress in this round of bargaining. Committee chairperson Denise Cochrane delivered a comprehensive breakdown of the survey results, including job security, wages, vacation, pension and benefit plans, loyalty premiums, training language, shift trades, shift premiums, part time language, and uniforms.
Unifor National Representative Paul Keighley divided the group into smaller subsections so that they could share and brainstorm work experiences from their individual bases. The interactive workshop enabled leadership to identify their prospective roles and membership expectations in the next round of negotiations.
“When it comes to negotiating a solid collective agreement, everyone—from the committee, to our district and vice chairs, women’s advocates and health and safety reps, all the way to our front line members—play a key role in bargaining,” said Josee Genois. “Our membership have put their faith in our ability and we are up to the task.”
Proposal meetings are currently in progress and our members have made it clear that they are engaged and want to participate in the process. Upcoming base visits are as follows and additional meetings will be announced as once confirmed.
| DATE |
CITY |
| November 8 |
Kingston |
| November 8 |
Calgary |
| November 21 |
Sudbury |
| November 22 |
North Bay |
Communication is always a top priority. During bargaining, the committee must strike a balance between delivering open and transparent dialogue and protecting the integrity of negotiations.
“Our goal as a committee is to keep our membership united, engaged and informed,” said Denise Cochrane. “As time permits, we plan to continue visiting work locations in the New Year. In addition, we will issue bulletins every month prior to bargaining and weekly, once negotiations begin.”
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Participants left the pre-bargaining leadership meeting eager to get on with the business of bargaining. But President Cheryl Robinson reiterated the message that was communicated by the committee during proposal meetings; bargaining will not actively commence until numerous outstanding grievances, which include scope work violations, are resolved.
“Our members at Jazz always go that extra mile for the employer and sometimes the company takes advantage,” said Cheryl Robinson. “For real progress to be made, we have to build on solid ground and that starts with a show of respect from this employer.”