Lisa Raymond, Author at AC Component

Surplus Update 14

Lisa Raymond on May 7, 2020

As the week started out with the first quarter financials for Air Canada, followed by a town hall and ending with mitigation talks we wanted to send you a quick synopsis for your review.

First Quarter Financial Results 2020 & Virtual Town Hall
As you are all likely aware, Air Canada released its first quarter 2020 financial results this week. They reported an operating loss of $433 million. The impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Air Canada and airlines around the world is profound and continues to be a dynamic situation. This makes it difficult to predict.

On their virtual town hall on May 5^th, Calin Rovinescu and the Air Canada leadership team stated that they did not expect a full recovery to 2019 revenue levels for approximately three years. The prognosis for the airline industry as a whole is an unknown variable. We will continue to communicate with the Company on this ever-changing landscape and the focus will be on mitigation and the Health and Safety of our members in the workplace.

The Air Transat acquisition continues to be a source of many inquiries. According to what those on the town hall were advised, it is still under review by the Minister of Transport.

In addition to the financial results Air Canada identified its plan to reduce their fleet by 79 aircraft. 30 767s, 35 A319s and 14 E190’s will be leaving. These aircraft make up a large portion of the Rouge fleet. The Company has maintained that Rouge is still an integral part of their business plan, but with a predominantly narrow body fleet moving forward. We realise that we will all be required to adapt to these new changes. We have faith that our members will continue to do what they do best which is to adapt and to make the best of a difficult situation.

Mitigation Update
In the spirit of our continued promise to keep our members informed, although we have limited news at this time, we have some information about mitigation talks. We have had many great suggestions from our members and have put forth a comprehensive array of options for the company to consider.

We spoke with Air Canada today and had further discussions. They are taking the information that was provided away and will come back to us late next week with a plan to move forward. We will continue to impress upon them how important mitigation is and how it can positively impact the lives of our members and their families. As soon as we have an update, we will share it with all of you.

COVID-19 – Has it affected your health?
If you have operated a flight where you were advised of a positive COVID-19 passenger on board it is extremely import you notify the Union. Please click HERE to access an email survey we had previously sent out to all members. If you have been affected, and have NOT yet replied to the email, please send a reply to contact@accomponent.ca titled “COVID-19”.

If you have contracted the virus it is equally important you advise the Union. This is strictly confidential, and is not reported to anyone, it is for our records only. Again, please send this to contact@accomponent.ca.

We are also wanting to ensure protective equipment is in full supply, if you are not able to get any equipment at the Comm Centres or on board, please report through an eReport as well report this to the Union.

We all have a role in safety and that is to report any safety issues. We are all safety professionals, and at this time more than ever, we must ensure our gloves, masks, gowns, and other PPEs are always available when we require them.

We would like to once again thank each and every one of you who has reached out to either give suggestions for mitigations, advise us of your concerns, comments on bulletins and sharing issues you are seeing online. We are only as strong as the information being shared through these official means. We are all very proud to represent each and every one of you through these current issues and look forward to what the future will hold when we are all standing together.

Be safe, maintain the open communication and let us build on our growing solidarity,

Pre-payment of your WIP Contributions

Lisa Raymond on May 6, 2020

This applies to Air Canada Mainline only.

We have received many questions that surround the pre-payment of your WIP contributions.

WIP is a Wage Replacement Program for Air Canada mainline members who fall ill and continue to be ill for 14 days or more. After the 14-day elimination period from your first flight missed or reserve day you are entitled to make an application for WIP, Short-Term Disability. The WIP Policy Booklet is attached HERE.

Prepayments are to ensure your WIP coverage is in place once you return to active work following any leave of absence. WIP Benefits are not payable while you are on the leave.

ACTIVE WORK, ACTIVELY AT WORK means the performance of the regular duties of your own occupation in accordance with the regular work schedule. New employees are not considered actively at work until they have performed their regular duties for one flight or shift if on special assignment or union officer duties, or one day of reserve duty.

It does not include periods during which you are undergoing training mandated by the Ministry of Transport or the employer, or while on vacation, IMMS, or any other non-pre-paid form of leave.

The Board of Trustees have made a decision to give a Contribution Holiday for the April Block Month ONLY, therefore pre-payment is not required by any members as outlined below.

1. Any member who is in receipt of Short Term WIP or Long Term WIP does not have to prepay for the Block Month of April.

2. Any member who is in receipt of Workers compensation does not have to prepay for the Block Month of April.

3. Any Active workingmembers do not have to prepay for the Block Month of April.

4. CEWSmembers do not have to prepay for the Block Month of April.

5. CERB members do not have to prepay for the Block Month of April.

For the Block Month of May,

1. Any member who is in receipt of WIP, Short Term WIP or Long Term WIP does not have to prepay for the Block Month of May.

2. Any member who is in receipt of Workers compensation does not have to prepay for the Block Month of May.

3. Any Active working members do not have to prepay for the Block Month of May, it will be payroll deducted as normal.

4. CEWS, if you are on CEWS, Air Canada has been advised NOT to deduct WIP contributions from the payroll for the Block month of May.

CEWS members can choose to prepay for the Block Month of May and the months that follow if they have not returned to active work following the May Block Month to ensure coverage will be in place once you return to Active Work. No coverage is provided during the leave.

5. CERB members can choose to prepay for the Block Month of May and the months that follow if they have not returned to active work following the May Block Month to ensure coverage will be in place once you return to Active Work. No coverage is provided during the leave.

What does this mean for CEWS members?
The decision to not deduct WIP from CEWS members for the Block Month of May is because we have no idea what the end result of the mitigation process will be. Let me explain. For the Block Month of May, if you choose to prepay and after the mitigation process has been completed you find that for the month of June you continue to be inactive, not recalled to work, you will now have a decision to make. I will use Lay-Off status as an example as it is part of the mitigation process. If you choose to prepay for May and find that for the month of June you have been laid off you will need to choose if you continue with the prepayment of WIP in order to continue coverage following the termination of such leave or lay-off. Remember, there is no coverage provided during the leave.

Lay-off, your prepayment may be continued for a maximum duration of up to six (6) months. Should you become disabled during the six-month period, you will not be eligible for benefit consideration unless you are recalled from lay-off status. NOTE: no benefits are payable during any leave or lay-off. To be clear, if your prepayment amount was $70.00 per month and you now find yourself, for the Block Month of June, in a lay-off position, you will need to choose whether or not to continue with the $70.00 prepayment until the leave is over in order to keep benefits in place. Let’s say that the lay-off is more than 6 months and you prepaid $70.00 for the month of May and you chose to prepay the maximum prepayment allowable for a lay-off, which is 6 months, your total cost would be $490.00. If you did not get recalled within the 6-month period, you will have reached the 6-month limitation. You will not be able to continue with the prepayments and no coverage will be in place until you have actually returned to full time active work.

Members who are currently on the CEWS program that are quite certain that they will return to active work in June, based on their seniority, should consider pre-payment for continuation of coverage for the May Block Month. If no prepayment is made and you are scheduled to return to active duties in June, and you unable to do your first flight due to illness or accident coverage will not be in place. Coverage will only return when you are back at work. See Active Work, Actively at Work above.

The same process applies to Leave of absence granted (such as personal, educational, maternity, child care, bereavement, or jury duty) other than inability to meet medical standards (IMMS), your coverage may be continued for a maximum duration of up to 24 months.
If you have elected to keep your coverage in force and you become totally disabled during the 24-month period, the elimination period will commence on the date you are scheduled to return to work.

Prepayment process
We are not able to get earnings from the Employer to calculate your prepayment costs until the April Block Month of is completed. We should have the information available for you by May 20, 2020 which will give you sufficient time to make a prepayment should you choose to do so. You have 45 days from the commencement of the leave, which is the first 1^st day of the May Block Month, (May 5^th) to make payment arrangements.

If you have additional questions please email Stephen Morash at s.morash@accomponent.ca.

On Behalf of The Board of Trust,

Stephen Morash
Administrative Consultant

NOTE: All Policy Booklet information can be accessed on the Air Canada Component of CUPE web site www.accomponent.ca or on the mobile App.

Manion, Wilkins & Associates
Plan Administration
626-21 Four Seasons Place
Etobicoke, Ontario
M9B 0A6

Switchboard: 416-234-5044
Toll Free Line: 1-800-663-7849
Fax: 416-234-0127
Contact Centre: 1-866-532-8999

Homewood Health FREE Webinar: Supporting Yourself and Others Through COVID-19

Lisa Raymond on May 5, 2020

COVID-19 poses unique challenges for all individuals. For those who experience common mental health challenges including anxiety and depression, the pandemic may exacerbate these issues. The uncertainty, social isolation and sometimes sudden and unexpected changes to normal routines, changes in relationships, work and home environments, can be additional triggers and especially difficult to manage. In the face of a pandemic like COVID-19, it is more important than ever to exercise vigilance around our mental well-being and the mental health of those around us.

On Wednesday May 6th from 12:00pm – 1:00pm (EDT), Homewood Health will be hosting a free webinar to help understand how to support yourself and those experiencing fear, grief, anxiety and/or depression.

Presented by Homewood’s Dr. Sandra Primiano, this session will help participants understand typical reactions and equip them with strategies for regulating their emotions, as well as providing tips to support others who may be experiencing difficulties given the unique challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Details surrounding the webinar can be found below. Please join us for this special event during Mental Health week. Space is limited, register now!

Presentation Title: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on your mental health
Date: Wednesday May 6, 2020
Time: 12:00 – 1:00pm EDT
Presenter: Dr. Sandra Primiano, Ph.D., Psy.D., Senior Director of Homewood Clinics and Homewood du Plateau.

Click here to register

Dr. Sandra Primiano
Dr. Primiano provides leadership to the Homewood Outpatient Clinics and Homewood du Plateau, where she leads collaborative efforts with clinical leaders to implement clinical processes, ensuring service quality and clinical effectiveness of our facilities and services. Dr. Primiano also acts as Health Psychology Discipline Lead, working closely with Homewood’s Human Resources in consulting on psychologists’ roles and responsibilities, including training and professional development needs, and provides leadership of the discipline. Sandra graduated from the Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM) with a Ph.D. and Psy.D. in Clinical and Experimental Psychology and came to Homewood from Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), where she was a Psychology Consultant for the Directorate of Mental Health.

Wishing you all the best,

Mary Keough
Chair, Component EAP Committee

Surplus Update 13

Lisa Raymond on May 4, 2020

Over the weekend there was a great deal of information coming from various sources about a variety of issues. In our ongoing commitment to keep you informed we wanted to provide an update:

Air Canada CleanCare + Program
As many of you have read today, Air Canada has announced the “Air Canada CleanCare + Program”. This program is set to include:

Mandatory pre-flight customer temperature checks, the first in the Americas
More personal space in Economy Class at least until June 30, 2020
Personal care kits for customers containing disinfectant and safety items
Electrostatic cabin spraying to reinforce aircraft grooming protocols
Revised food product minimizing crew and passenger contact
Customer face-coverings and employee personal protective equipment now mandatory

The Union is happy to see this change, and more importantly to see that Air Canada is moving forward as a leader in safety. We are very interested in how this will be received onboard, by our crews. Please reach out to Health and Safety with any questions, concerns or feedback you may have.

There is more information provided here: https://www.aircanada.com/us/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2020/cleancareplus.html

Employment Security – Mitigations
In our last update, we advised you that we were moving forward with mitigation discussions and were set to meet with the employer on this. We met with them last week and have had preliminary discussions on the application of LOU 60.05. We feel it will help everyone if you review it so that you have an understanding of the process and the Collective Agreement Language outlining it:

L60.05 EMPLOYMENT SECURITY

L60.05.01 Prior to a reduction in forces which results in layoffs, Air Canada shall notify the Union well in advance of this action being taken in order to enable the parties to discuss ways of avoiding a layoff or minimizing the adverse effects of a layoff. To this end, the parties will attempt to determine appropriate alternatives, which could be available to employees affected.

L60.05.02 Should a reduction in forces trigger Division IX of Part III of the Canada Labour Code, the parties will apply the provisions of that Division.

L60.05.03 In the event that a reduction in forces occurs to which the requirements of Division IX of the Canada Labour Code do not apply, Air Canada agrees to mitigate any reduction in forces by offering mitigation options in the following order:

L60.05.03.01 A travel card program with a C-3 priority for any cabin personnel with more than 15 years of service who wishes to resign. Air Canada Mainline will communicate to the Union the company’s policy governing this.

L60.05.03.02 Leaves of absences up to the number required to mitigate layoffs to cabin personnel in order of seniority. The terms of the special leaves of absences will continue to apply to such leaves.

L60.05.03.03 If there are insufficient mitigations, the following programs will be offered and awarded on the basis of seniority:
• Mini-blocks to cabin personnel;
• The opportunity to utilize accrued vacation to cabin personnel;

L60.05.03.04 Any other mitigation agreed to by the parties at the time a surplus is identified.

With the language above aligning with our current situation, we are moving forward with L60.05.01. This means that we are reviewing mitigations to minimize the adverse effects of layoffs on the membership. This is one reason you have not seen any layoff notices. We appreciate the Company put out a communication that layoff notices were coming. We were assured they have not gone out for inflight and that the Union will be kept advised prior to them going out to our members. We will keep you advised, and notified of any updates to further mitigations, layoffs and job security as we move through this process.

CEWS and CERB
Many of you have reached out to us about your CEWS totals, and the seven-day absence from the payroll. We have reviewed many of these scenarios with both Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge. To clarify, this would apply to people that were off the payroll (not available to fly) for 7 days in a block month, and would only make a difference to your overall compensation if you flew the rest of the month. This adjustment would additionally be done for those members on any of the following leaves:

Maternity leave
Parental leave
Childcare leave
Breastfeeding Leave
Paternity leave
Care for critically ill adult
Care for critically ill child
Worker’s Compensation
Group Disability

For those of you who have been identified as having an adjusted calculation as per the information above, we will be reaching out to advise you of your new amount. You will also be contacted by Air Canada/Air Canada Rouge, by email.

Members who elected to take voluntary leaves and/or reduced blocks, or who were on any other type of leave, would not have their CEWS wages adjusted. The original adjustment provided for you was as per the Government guidelines. They can be found here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/subsidy/emergency-wage-subsidy/cews-frequently-asked-questions.html

Wage Indemnity Plan Board of Trust Q & A document
We have confirmed with the WIP Board of Trust that there will be a question and answer document provided to you this week. We understand that there are many questions coming in and appreciate your patience. There are many administrative elements involved and they have been working diligently to provide a comprehensive document for the membership.

In solidarity,

EAP Online Mindfulness Sessions

Lisa Raymond on May 4, 2020

We are pleased to offer to our members online sessions on mindfulness, as a way of supporting you through these challenging times with the COVID-19 pandemic. The next session will take place on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, with other dates to follow.

Mindfulness is the ability to pay attention, on time, in the present moment, without judgment. This practice has many potential benefits, including reduced stress, greater sense of wellbeing, increased focus, and more harmonious relationships. One way to hone this skill is through meditation.

On Wednesday, May 6th, Brian Dean Williams and Roxanne Dault will be leading us in some mindfulness meditation practices, and you are warmly invited to join us.
12pm – 12:30pm (EDT) in English
12:45pm – 1:15pm (EDT) in French

The session will consist of a 15-20-minute practice together as well as 10-15 minutes of questions, inquiry, and resources. You will need to download and install ZOOM software if you haven’t yet. There is no need to have previous experience, just grab a cushion and chair, find a quiet space, and feel free to shut off your cell phone. If possible, please arrive a few minutes early, to allow us to start on time. We would love to see you there via video, if you prefer, you’re welcome to turn your video off for the session.

Brian is a registered clinical counsellor and mindfulness meditation teacher from Vancouver, BC. He has an active private practice and teaches retreats internationally. He has done in-person mindfulness training with our members on the west coast. www.briandeanwilliams.com.

Roxanne is a mindfulness meditation teacher from Montréal, QC, and is also trained in Somatic Experiencing®, a body-mind approach to resolve stress and trauma. She has spent years in silence both in Asia and in the West. She teaches meditation locally and internationally in diverse settings. www.roxannedault.com.

To register, please email Mary Keough at mindfulness@accomponent.ca. In your email please indicate whether you are registering for the English session OR the French session. If you do not indicate a language, you will be registered for the English session by default.

We have a limit of 100 participants for each session on a first-come, first serve basis. You will receive login information for the online session once you are registered.