Please note these rules are specific to Air Canada Mainline Reserve Members
Article B8 in our Collective Agreement speaks to the Reserve rules regarding non-inviolate and inviolate days off.
We have recently had an issue in which a member on reserve was asked to work into a Guaranteed Day Off. We have filed a grievance. In the spirit of trying to foster a strong knowledge base for our members we wanted to give a small backgrounder on Guaranteed Days off while on reserve status.
A Guaranteed Day Off (a.k.a. inviolate day) is just that, a guaranteed day in which you can have some stability in your schedule and set aside these days for important things like doctor’s appointments.
We negotiated new language for Regular Days Off (a.k.a. non inviolate day) in our last round of bargaining. This included a premium for working into your RDO’s because we felt that days off were important. Generally speaking, when there is a premium paid, employers face a deterrent.
We did NOT negotiate a premium for GDO’s because they are inviolate and not to be flown on. There are limited circumstances in which you may be required to work into a GDO.
In IRROPS situations things may happen that are out of the company’s control. On a GDO, in an IRROPS situation, you may be required to operate back to home base after a layover into a GDO. This typically happens when one books crew rest, flight cancellation and delays causing a misconnection away from base.
The information below is an excerpt from the Reserve Handbook. If you do not have a copy of the Reserve Handbook you can find it “HERE“.
If you ever find yourself in a situation where you are not sure what your rights are, we encourage you to contact your Reserve Committee at reserve@accomponent.ca, contact your Local Union office by clicking “Here“ or reach out to 247@accomponent.ca. It is a strong base of knowledge that will give us all confidence in voicing our rights. We sincerely believe that knowledge is power.
Jesse Matthews & Chanelle Gauthier
Co-Chairs, Reserve Committee