Lisa Raymond, Author at AC Component

Pre-Payment of Your WIP Contributions

Lisa Raymond on June 9, 2020

(This applies to Air Canada Mainline only)

We have received many questions that surround the pre-payment of your WIP contributions and when you can expect to be notified of the cost.

We have been overwhelmed with requests, however all members who submitted a request and have received confirmation from Manion will be honored should we go beyond the June 18, 2020 payment timeline. If you have not received your calculations by Friday, June 12th, please contact Stephen Morash at s.morash@accomponent.ca.

Please ensure to check your junk folder as some emails have been redirected there.

One you receive your final cost, the email will outline the payment options. NOTE: online banking can be done in minutes and is likely the best option for making the payment on time.

If you have additional questions, please email 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

H&S Update – COVID-19

Lisa Raymond on June 8, 2020

As many of us depart for an unexpected pause in our careers, the safety concerns related to COVID-19 remain valid. No matter how many of us are out there, it’s the Union’s commitment to continue to advocate on ALL your behalf. The sad reality is that COVID-19 will likely be part of the new normal when members start getting recalled and we want our workplace to be ready for when that time comes.

It is no secret that the Union was frustrated with the slow rollout of personal protective equipment and changes to service and SOP’s as the pandemic began playing out earlier this year. That being said, recent changes in management seem to have encouraged a more collaborative approach in the go-forward about how the company will address the myriad of concerns and challenges that COVID brings. We are very encouraged by this and hope that it continues.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Transport Canada, the government agency that currently oversees occupational health and safety at Canada’s airlines. We know that their actions/inaction have been a major concern and complaint for many of you. Others may simply have wondered how certain things were being allowed to play out as they did, and what the Union was doing about it. That’s understandable.

As the Union gears up for a national safety campaign focussed on aviation workplace safety in the COVID-19 era, we want to share a letter that was recently sent to the Federal Minister of Transport as well as Minister of Labour.

To date the Union has not received a response.

To view the letter to the Ministers of Transport and Labour click “HERE“.

In solidarity,

Your Air Canada Component of CUPE Health and Safety Committee

As A Matter Of Fact – Tip Of The Week – Reserve

Lisa Raymond on June 8, 2020

We are currently aware that some of our members are on reserve and have not been on reserve in the past while. In an effort to answer any questions you may have about reserve rules we would like to help. Please go to the Component website www.accomponent.ca and you will find a copy of the Reserve Handbook there:

Website:

– https://accomponent.ca/ > Member Resources > Reserve Handbook

Mobile App:

– Member Resources > Reserve Handbook

If you cannot find the answers to your questions in the handbook you can write to us at reserve@accomponent.ca.

CEWS Update

Lisa Raymond on June 8, 2020

Over the past week we have had several members reach out with questions about the CEWS program. They advised us that they had heard that other airlines or bargaining units within Air Canada/Air Canada Rouge were being granted an extension to the CEWS program, and many of them were wondering if we could have the same outcome. To reiterate the message from our previous bulletins, the Company was not interested in extending the CEWS for the entire membership. In addition to this and despite our many attempts, this was not something the Company wanted to explore for the whole membership.

Instead we were offered, at the same time as mitigations, an extension to the CEWS program for a small percentage of the membership. The condition for this was that it would not be bid on, would not follow seniority and we had to sign off on a maximum of 600 people on CEWS for June and July only. The Company wanted our members essentially on standby.

The Company is not interested in following the CEWS program like other airlines are, such as Air Transat, WestJet and Sunwing and further the reality is that we already have a mechanism in our collective agreement for extra staffing, it is called Reserve. The Company wanted a third classification of workers earning less money and your Union unanimously disagreed with this. Our position was that these members be kept on reserve and earn full salary. As a result of our refusal to extend the CEWS to that small percentage requested by Air Canada, 249 more members were not laid off and the full mitigation list was actioned allowing more members to be employed, and more members were awarded their chosen mitigation. For every mitigation, there is a job saved. We also compared year-over-year reserve numbers for June and have seen a significantly higher percentage of members on reserve in June 2020. This clearly demonstrates that more of our members were kept on reserve in June, at full pay. This was a further reduction in the amount of layoffs.

Our decision to hold the line on not introducing a third classification of lower paid members essentially on reserve but getting paid less was needed . We are confident that in addition to the increase in reserve numbers that we will see more members returned to work in the short-term. Our goal is always to protect and defend the rights of the membership as a whole and we will continue to do so with every member on side.

If the Company would have used the CEWS program as intended, we would not see thousands of our members on lay off status. We have expressed our concerns with the CEWS program not being afforded to our members to the Company, CUPE National, Canadian Government Officials, and the media.

For further clarity, the CEWS program is still active for all members on payroll. CEWS is a wage subsidy that the employer receives. This means that for everyone currently active, the Company is claiming a portion of your wage back to the government. You are being paid 100% of what you are entitled to, but the company is getting a 75% subsidy on those wages under CEWS. Previously we saw it bid on and offered to all those that would have otherwise been laid off or mitigated, that is the current difference.

There are also countless rumours going around that IAM and Unifor have all there members on CEWS. This is not correct, they have CEWS as a reserve model, and in limited numbers, we have been in consultation with all the Unionized groups on this. ACPA has also not had the CEWS program extended.

We again want to reiterate, the Union works for you, we fight for you and advocate for you. We have been doing this the entire time. There was no other reason to deny CEWS other than it was not a benefit to pay people less than what they would make being fully active, it violated seniority and it was limited in duration and prohibited members from being paid 100% of their salary to sit reserve. In essence, we enforced and followed the Collective Agreement.

In solidarity,

RAMQ Benefits

Lisa Raymond on June 5, 2020

Your Local and Component offices have been inundated with phone calls and emails from some members who live in the province of Quebec and have been laid off. The provincial health insurance board in the province of Quebec (RAMQ) requires residents of Quebec to maintain prescription drug coverage through a private plan if one is available to them from their employer or trade union. This requirement means that the expensive buy back option of the Air Canada extended health plan has become mandatory for some of our soon to be laid off members in Quebec. This places a heavy burden on those who are already going to be struggling to make ends meet.

We have requested that Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge look into offering a health plan with prescription only coverage. This would have saved these members from the higher costs associated with the extended health plan. At this time, they are unable to split out the prescription drugs from the overall health plan. Your Union has been looking into creative alternate solutions.

You may not be aware but the Air Canada Component of CUPE is also an employer. We have five full-time employees based in our head office in Etobicoke. As such we provide a benefits plan as part of their negotiated compensation. The Component Secretary-Treasurer, Alex Habib has been working with our benefits provider to put together a private plan for our affected members that would cover prescription drugs only.

Discussions are ongoing and we are hopeful we can negotiate a lower rate of insurance that in turn can then be offered to the affected members. It would also be open to any members who might be interested in prescription only coverage and have been laid off.

We likely will not have final details until sometime next week. We wanted to advise you that we are looking into alternate arrangements but cannot make any guarantees.

We appreciate how difficult the financial hurdles ahead will be for those who are laid off and are doing all we can to support you in these difficult times. We will have further updates as they become available.

In solidarity,

Pre-Payment of Your WIP Contributions

H&S Update – COVID-19

As A Matter Of Fact – Tip Of The Week – Reserve

CEWS Update

RAMQ Benefits

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