November 23, 2020 at 11:42 AM
Dear members,
We would like to inform you of the latest developments in the Bluepass issue at Handlex / Servisair. As you know, in 2012, the union filed a grievance challenging the abolition of certain collective agreement benefits following the sale of Handlex to Servisair. On May 21, 2013, arbitrator Claude Martin allowed the grievance and reserved his jurisdiction to determine the value of the damages. The employer then initiated an application for judicial review of the arbitrator's decision, which it later lost. On July 22, 2018, arbitrator Martin finally rendered a decision on the value of damages which he determined to be $ 907,000 plus interest.
However, it quickly became apparent that a dispute existed between the unions (Teamsters 931, 1999 and Unifor 2002) and the employer over the bargaining agents affected by this order. While the unions believe that the award only encompasses these three entities, the employer argues that the amount also includes amounts owed to Teamsters 419 members. The employer once again seized arbitrator Martin in the fall of 2019 in order to ask him to determine to whom his sentence applied. Unifor and the Teamsters 931 and 1999 argued that the arbitrator no longer had the jurisdiction to reverse his July 2018 decision and that it was final.
The parties argued this issue on February 20, 2020. We did not receive Arbitrator Martin's decision until September 16, 2020. In his decision, he determined that his award of July 22, 2018, only covered Unifor, the Teamsters 931, and 1999, but that the amount then established by the employer's expert report also covered the 1999 Teamsters. It, therefore, became imperative to determine what was the share of 419 in this amount. It should be noted that we have reserved our rights to challenge this last decision.
The unions asked the arbitrator to refer the matter to the employer's expert, who had previously established the figure at $ 907,000. Arbitrator Martin confirmed to us that he wanted to seek clarification from the employer's expert. We are waiting for these responses to be able to assess what is due to the members of 419 in order to determine what is due to you.
We understand that the delays in this file are considerable. A series of disputes created a real legal saga. We are working jointly with Teamsters 931 and 1999 to resolve the matter as quickly as possible, but above all in your best interest. The award amount has been held in a trust account with the Swissport lawyers since October 2018.
We will keep you informed of developments as soon as we have them.
In solidarity,
Theresa Amicarelli,
Assistant to the Local 2002 President
Josée Genois
Assistant to the Local 2002 President