In 2018, your Union filed a policy grievance regarding the Company’s failure to pay Rouge Flight Attendants the four-hour “Reserve/Standby duty” credit under Article L55.06.07, which at the time stated “Reserve/Standby Duty – Employees shall be guaranteed a credit of four (4 hours) for each standby duty day”. The Company denied the four-hour reserve/standby credit to crew members who were on reserve duty but were available for less than 24 hours through no fault of their own. There are several scenarios under which crew members, through no fault of their own, will not be available to work the entire 24-hour reserve/standby duty such as: insufficient buffer time scheduled, call in, reassignment or conflict in pairing.
The Union asserted the Company was “having it both ways” by requiring Flight Attendants to be on standby duty while simultaneously denying payment based on the Company’s own unilateral scheduling of employees. The Union argued that the standby credit is not a “per hour” credit. If a Flight Attendant is on reserve/standby duty, they are owed the credit. The Collective Agreement does not allow the reduction of the credit or pro-rating the credit.
The policy grievance was referred to arbitration and heard before Arbitrator Gedalof.
Arbitrator Gedalof allowed the Union’s grievance.
Arbitrator Gedalof accepted the Union’s argument that the Company was “having it both ways”. The arbitrator concluded that an employee who is assigned to standby duty is entitled to the standby premium under Article L55.06.07 notwithstanding that the employee was also assigned to a pairing that “touched” the standby duty day.
Please CLICK HERE for a full copy of the award.
If you were denied standby credit under Article L55.06.07 after May 20, 2016, please contact Ivana Jovic at i.jovic@accomponent.ca.
In Solidarity,
Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE