Swissport (former Handlex) Blue Pass Arbitration Update

Swissport (former Handlex) Blue Pass Arbitration Update

December 11, 2015 at 1:39 PM

On November 28, 2015 an arbitration hearing was held in Montreal before Arbitrator Claude Martin regarding the ongoing Blue Pass Arbitration between Unifor, Teamsters and Swissport (former Handlex). Unifor lawyer Catherine St. Germain and Teamsters lawyer Patrice St. Onge each presented their position of how a monetary settlement should be given and the amounts that each member should receive. Swissport (the Company) has requested an adjournment until December 12, 2015 to study these proposed monetary settlements put forth by the two union lawyers.

Today, Arbitrator Claude Martin convened a conference call at the request of Swissport and their lawyer with all of the parties to discuss the employers request to have these settlements reviewed by Deloitte – the Company’s accountants – and to postpone the meeting scheduled for December 12, 2015. The Company has confirmed that this file is very complicated and has raised a number of other questions at the hearing held on November 28, 2015. The Company needs to obtain further information from Air Transat in the meantime before making any offers.

  

This is a recap of what has occurred through 2014-2015
  

On January 5, 2015 the arbitrator held a conference call with all of the parties with the hopes of coming to a favourable conclusion with this matter. A letter was sent to the parties that this was the goal the arbitrator was trying to achieve. The Company forwarded all of the information to the arbitrator that had been collected about confirmed passes, standby passes and the utilization rate of the former Handlex employees for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 on July 31, 2014. The arbitrator also received the information collected by Unifor for the confirmed, retiree and stand by passes on September 15, 2014, as well as, the information from Teamsters. The Company had several months to review the information and to prepare its arguments to present in its defence.

The arbitrator granted a further extension, although he whole heartedly was against doing so. The Company had to review the claims made against them by the unions as it was in excess of $500,000 dollars. Even though there was no clear proof to the claim against the Company, the Company had to prepare its defence. The judicial review further delayed the process in question.

  

The assistance of the professional accountants may help the Company to better assess the value of the damages owed to the employees.

Thus, the accountants report will have to be made available to the unions no later than February 15, 2016. The unions must advise the arbitrator of their intentions of bringing in their own experts to rebut those of the employer no later than February 29, 2016. The union’s experts must provide their report to the employer no later than 29 April, 2016.

The Arbitrator’s office will communicate to the parties the future hearing dates no later than the week of February 29, 2016. These hearings will most likely have to take place on the weekends.

All Unifor members employed by Swissport (Handlex) in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver from May 2012 to present or date of separation from the Company will be entitled to a monetary settlement once it has been awarded by the Arbitrator.

This entire process has been very long and tedious for all of our members and their patience has been overwhelming. Now, as we near the end to this arbitration we ask that you continue to have faith that a positive resolution is just a few short months away. We will continue to keep you updated.

  

For more information, please contact:
Theresa Amicarelli, Assistant to President

  

For more information, please contact:
Theresa Amicarelli, Assistant to President