Lisa Raymond, Author at AC Component

Tattoo and Piercing Award – CHQ-19-05 & CHQ-Rouge-19-07

Lisa Raymond on May 14, 2021

The Union is happy to share a further positive grievance outcome this week for two policy grievances filed at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge related to personal grooming standards. In March 2019, the Union grieved the Companies’ personal appearance policies, which prohibit cabin personnel from having visible tattoos and piercings on duty, other than one pair of matching stud earrings. The grievances proceeded to a hearing with our Chief Arbitrator William Kaplan on April 21, 2021, and his award was issued yesterday. Please CLICK HERE to review the full award.

The Union alleged that the Companies’ tattoo and piercings policies are unreasonable and discriminatory. Additionally, the Union alleged the absolute prohibition on visible tattoos and piercings has resulted in disciplinary consequences without just cause.

The arbitrator found that tattoo and piercings policies, in their present form, are not necessary to advance the Companies’ business interests. As such, in order to ensure compliance with the Collective Agreement, and the Canadian Human Rights Act he ordered that the Companies amend their tattoo and piercings policies to permit the following:

Henna Tattoos: Visible henna worn in connection with any religious, cultural or celebratory reason.

Tattoos: Discreet tattoos that are not offensive and have no connection to nudity, hatred, violence, drugs, alcohol, discrimination, or harassment, may be visible so long as they are not on the head (with the exception of directly behind the ears) or the neck (with the exception of the nape of the neck). All other tattoos may not be visible.

Piercings:
Earrings:

A maximum of three (3) earrings per ear in plain gold, rose gold, silver, diamond, wood or pearl
Earrings must be limited to studs or hoops, as follows:
- Stud(s) no larger than a quarter inch in diameter
- Any hoops will be plain, in gold, silver, rose gold or wood and not be larger than a Canadian dime
- Spacers/gauges/plugs/tunnels or any other ear stretchings are not permitted

Nose:

A single piercing in one nostril, limited to a stud or hoop:
- Stud in gold, silver, rose gold or a gold, silver, rose gold post with a precious stone
- Plain hoop in gold, silver or rose gold, that fits flush or snug against the nostril

In addition, the arbitrator ordered the removal of all discipline strictly relating to tattoos, henna tattoos and piercings issued against individual members and that the individual grievors be made whole.

We expect in the coming weeks that the Companies will adjust their grooming policies to comply with this award. We hope this award will significantly reduce the stress and anxiety our members felt towards covering their discreet tattoos and removing their additional piercings.

In solidarity,

June 2021 Life Lines – Healthy Relationships

Lisa Raymond on May 14, 2021

Homewood Health^TM EFAP is pleased to release the Life Lines article for June 2021, “Healthy Relationships” .

This article is intended to support your wellness programming by providing employees and their family members with useful information and tips. Suggested distribution mechanisms include posting it on your intranet site, printing hard copies to be placed in high traffic areas such as staff lounges and lunchrooms, making it available in Human Resources and occupational health centres, mass email distribution, or including within your company communications.

Understanding the complexities and demands of your day, Homewood Health is pleased to provide article summaries in both video and audio file formats. Each file is approximately two minutes in duration and reviews key reading points in a clear and concise manner. Please click on the tabs below for access.

View the Article

Play the Video

Download the Audio File

CHQ-21-05 – Mixing of Extensions and Improper Designation of a Pairing (Articles L22, L60.04)

Lisa Raymond on May 13, 2021

The Union has filed a policy grievance about Air Canada’s improper designation of extension pairings (click HERE to view). Although the Collective Agreement, including Article L60.04.05, requires Air Canada to designate each pairing based on the longest leg within that pairing, Air Canada has recently started mixing extension pairing rules within a single pairing.

For example, if the longest flight leg within a pairing falls under LOU 22A, the entire pairing should be designated as an LOU 22A pairing. Therefore, all rules under LOU 22A should apply to all flight legs within that pairing (crew rest, crew complement, duty period limitations, etc.).

For the May 2021 block month, however, the Union discovered that ICN pairings in YVR were built with different rules on each of the flight legs instead of applying the LOU 18 rules (the longest leg within that pairing) on the entire pairing. For example, pairings involving flight 28 (ICN-YYZ, L18) were combined with flights ac25 (YVR-ICN) and ac119/127 (YYZ-YVR) and the crew complement on flights ac25 and ac119/127 was based on the lower B5 crew complement instead of the required LOU 18 crew complement.

In this grievance, the Union is seeking to require Air Canada to comply with its obligations regarding the creation and designation of pairings.

In Solidarity,

Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE

Secretary Treasurer Report – May 2021

Lisa Raymond on May 13, 2021

Please see the update below regarding the financial affairs of the Component:

Banking and Investments
As of May 1st, we currently have $3.2 million saved in three different GICs. I have started to diversify the term lengths on the GICs in order to get higher interest rates on longer term GICs with interest still paid out annually. We also have a balance of approximately $950,000 in our savings account.

Budget Follow-Up
As follow-up to the budget, ACCEX passed in December, I have continued to try and find further cost-savings as we did anticipate stable staffing numbers through the winter but instead saw layoffs again in February and March. Please see the below updates:

We made further staffing reductions to our office staff with one member converting to part-time. For comparison, in March 2020 we had 7 full-time staff. We now have 3.5 full-time staff, and we will continue to subsidize this cost using the CEWS program which currently runs until September 2021.
As previously reported, we were able to end our lease early for the YVR WCB Office last fall and cancel the associated phone and internet cost. We have also made the decision to pause the Component Worker’s Compensation Committee and rely on our Locals and CUPE National to support worker’s compensation appeals.
ACCEX unanimously passed a motion earlier this year to suspended Local Budgets for February 2021 and March 2021. This was a significant cost savings as given the low active local membership numbers the base amounts plus the per member $8.00 would have left the Component with almost no leftover funds after the CUPE National per capita is paid.
We had hoped to continue to reduce Local Budgets by a small percentage for the rest of the fiscal year, however the motion failed to garner unanimous support.

Audits
Our external auditors completed their audit of the 2020 Year-End Finances in January 2021 and the statements were unanimously approved by ACCEX at our last meeting. We remain completely up-to-date with our accounting audits. I wish I could say the same with our trustee audits however we currently find ourselves with all three elected trustees on layoff status. I hope to re-engage with our trustees in the near future once it is again permitted to conduct in-person meetings.

Highest Earner Top-Up
In my last update I advised that ACCEX had taken the decision to have legal counsel review the matter of two of the three former Component Officers not repaying the amount in disputed top-up. Upon review with counsel, the Union will not be pursuing the repayment any further and passed a motion as such. The bylaws now provide for a clear definition on highest earner going forward and the Union now considers this matter closed.

In Solidarity,

Alex Habib
Secretary-Treasurer, Air Canada Component of CUPE

Coronavirus Update 37

Lisa Raymond on May 11, 2021

Vaccination campaigns are set to open to the masses across the country, and the company is launching its clinics in Montreal and Toronto over the next couple of weeks. The Union encourages its members to make an informed choice, and to understand their rights when it comes to time off to get the jab.

COVID-19 vaccine webinar:
For those who might be undecided, we wish to share a recording from a recent webinar hosted by PreventionLink, an Ontario-based safety organization, and presented by Andréane Chénier, one of CUPE National’s health and safety servicing reps. She holds a masters in immunology, a doctorate in biomolecular sciences and previously worked in the field of HIV, cancer and immunology research.

The webinar provides a full overview of viruses, the immune system and how vaccines work. It also addresses some of the most common questions and concerns specifically related to COVID-19 vaccines.

NOTE: The webinar was recorded last month, and viewers will notice that information related to the AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines and the very rare vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) is slightly out of date.

The webinar can be accessed HERE.

CUPE COVID-19 vaccine fact sheet:
CUPE’s COVID-19 vaccination fact sheet is also a good source of information and can be accessed HERE.

Leave to get the COVID-19 vaccine:
Employees in federally regulated workplaces can take personal leave, provided under Part III of the Canada Labour Code (the Code), in order to get vaccinated. The Code provides that employee is entitled to and shall be granted 5 days of personal leave, in a calendar year, in order to:

treat an injury or illness;
take care of health obligations for any member of your family or care for them;
take care of obligations related to the education of any family member under age 18;
manage any urgent situation that concerns you or a family member; and
attend your citizenship ceremony under the Citizenship Act.

The vaccination appointment would fall undertaking care of health obligations for themselves and/or managing urgent situation concerning themselves – as noted above.

Please note that an employee who has completed three consecutive months of continuous employment with the employer is entitled to the first three days of personal leave with pay at employee’s regular rate of wages for their normal hours of work.

Information on how to access this leave can be found by visiting:

HRConnex > Forms & Reference Documents > HR Policies and Programs > HR Policy – Personal Leaves

In Solidarity,

Tattoo and Piercing Award – CHQ-19-05 & CHQ-Rouge-19-07

June 2021 Life Lines – Healthy Relationships

CHQ-21-05 – Mixing of Extensions and Improper Designation of a Pairing (Articles L22, L60.04)

Secretary Treasurer Report – May 2021

Coronavirus Update 37

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