Lisa Raymond, Author at AC Component

Mitigation – Special Leave of Absence – CERB Applicable

Lisa Raymond on May 22, 2020

Your Union is extremely pleased to advise you that we have received the following information, in writing, from Employment and Social Development Canada.

We specifically asked them why Air Canada was advising our members that CERB was not available for those who opted for the Special Leave of Absence through the mitigation programs. We felt that this was not doing enough and wanted to go direct to the source and ask them what could be done to fix this.

We are pleased to tell you that they responded in our favour and said: “In response to your specific question on the CERB, a worker who agrees with their employer to take unpaid leave in lieu of being laid off for reasons related to COVID-19 is not considered to have quit their job voluntarily, and is eligible to claim the CERB if they meet the other eligibility criteria listed above.”

Please note the criterias are:

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) is available to workers:

Residing in Canada, who are at least 15 years old;
Who have stopped working because of reasons related to COVID-19 or are eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits or have exhausted their Employment Insurance regular or fishing benefits between December 29, 2019 and October 3, 2020;
Who had employment and/or self-employment income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application; and,
Who have not quit their job voluntarily.”

In addition they mention:

When submitting their first claim, a worker cannot have earned more than $1,000 in employment and/or self-employment income for 14 or more consecutive days within the four-week benefit period of their claim. When submitting subsequent claims, the worker cannot have earned more than $1,000 in employment and/or self-employment income for the entire four-week benefit period of their new claim.

Again, this is a huge move forward for many of you, and a game changer for all, we are happy to have secured this for you. There is now a mitigation option that allows members to take an SPLOA and receive an income for up to sixteen weeks. We hope that this results in the saving of even more jobs.

In solidarity,

Surplus Update 20

Lisa Raymond on May 22, 2020

The Union has been officially advised of the expected number of surplus cabin personnel for next month. The Company is expecting to need 5,600 fewer active mainline cabin personnel. This is on top of the 1,500 Rouge members who will all be placed on layoff status for the June block month. There is no scheduled Rouge flying for June 2020.

Although mitigations will only be offered to those that have the seniority to remain active next month, please continue to bid for mitigations if you are not interested in flying next month and into the foreseeable future. As those senior members are awarded mitigation options, they will save someone junior from potential layoff and in turn that junior member becomes eligible for mitigation thus saving a further person junior to them from layoff. Please remember that mitigation selections will close on Monday, May 25th at 08:00 EDT.

The Company will also be publishing an updated seniority List on Aeronet, that removes those who have left the Company since January 2020. The list will still include those who are on inactive status, which is approximately 700 members. Once updated, it can be found here: https://aircanada.sharepoint.com/sites/Aeronet/en-ca/Branches/IFS/Crew-Scheduling-Planning/Pages/Seniority-even-year.aspx.

It bears repeating that there are no numbers by classification or by base. Surplus flight attendants will be considered in seniority order based on the Master Seniority list irrespective of classification or base.

Please continue to ask your questions on Yammer or to Crew Planning. You Union will also continue to assist you through this difficult time.

In solidarity,

Surplus Update 19

Lisa Raymond on May 21, 2020

Over the last few days, we have received many questions about the Company’s mitigation program. We have compiled a list of the most common ones:

Do I need to apply for mitigation?
No, you should only be applying for mitigation options you are willing to accept. If you are senior enough to hold flying, you very likely will be placed on one of the mitigation options you select. You do not need to select all choices. If you are only interested in the 12-month SLOA, place that as “Choice 1” and leave the other choices blank.

If you apply for the resignation or retirement option, you WILL get it. You are ending your employment relationship with Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge and do not have recall rights.

Is there EI top up paid on the Reduced Block Program (RBP)? What is the Union doing to get it?
Currently there is no EI top-up for the RBP. Your union requested weeks ago that the Company apply for the EI Workshare program and to date has still not heard back. If you apply for the RBP, at the current time you should not expect an EI top-up. If the program is later applied for and approved, then you would be able to receive the top-up.

Am I able to apply for CERB when I take a SLOA?
Our best advice would be to contact Service Canada. The CERB has different eligibility requirements than EI and you may be able to apply based on your specific circumstances. Please see the following link on “Who can apply” for the CERB: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/benefits/apply-for-cerb-with-cra/who-apply.html

When I apply for the RBP the link for the pension option is missing. What do I do?
The form has now been corrected. When indicating your preference, you can select between the two pension options on an RBP. If you have already submitted a request for the RBP, you should go back to the form and adjust your selection.

I would like to take a voluntary layoff, is this an option?
Unfortunately this is not an option. Layoffs will be done in reverse seniority order.

If I hold a route language or am bilingual, am I protected from a layoff?
No, language has no bearing on layoffs or recalls. Your position on the Master Seniority List is all that is considered.

What is happening with the Air Transat acquisition?
We have no further information on the Air Transat acquisition at this time.

I have more specific questions, who do I contact?
We are still able to assist you, but if your questions are of a specific nature we would encourage you to reach out to Crew Planning or ask questions in the Yammer group set-up by the Company, as this is the Company’s mitigation program. The Yammer group is entitled CUPE Mitigation Q&A // FAQ sur l’atténuation du SCFP

Thank you for all of your questions and support during these difficult times. We understand that these are tough choices and will continue to provide information as soon as it comes available.

In solidarity,

Open Letter to Calin Rovinescu

Lisa Raymond on May 20, 2020

“OPEN LETTER”

May 20, 2020

Mr. Calin Rovinescu
President & CEO
Air Canada
P.O. Box #14000, Station Airport
Dorval, QC
H4Y 1Y4

Dear Mr. Rovinescu,
On behalf of our membership, comprised of Air Canada Mainline and Air Canada Rouge Cabin Crew, we are reaching out to you in your capacity as President & CEO. As you are undoubtedly aware, the Union sent a letter to Air Canada regarding the CEWS process for the go forward. This was done after consultation with our Executive Board when the Prime Minister made the announcement that the government would be looking at ways to work with Air Canada during this time of unprecedented hardship.

In this letter, we offered the following: ‘The Air Canada Component of CUPE will continue to support Air Canada’s efforts to secure government relief from the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. On May 16, 2020, Prime Minister Trudeau again recognized the effect of the pandemic on Air Canada and promised that the Government of Canada would see how “we can help even more”.’ We are surprised that over the two days since sending this letter, we have not received a call to assist in moving this forward.

We are equally surprised to hear that members opting to take a Special Leave under the mitigation program will not be eligible for the CERB due to the code that the employer is choosing to enter on Records of Employment. The CERB eligibility criteria is very clear: “The benefit is available to workers who have stopped working because of reasons related to COVID-19.” A mitigation is intended to assist a company in preventing layoffs; one would think there would be greater interest in this mitigation option if members could opt for the Special Leave and have their record of employment reflect the true meaning of the leave, as it is clearly related to a shortage of work due to COVID-19, and be eligible to collect valuable government benefits. This is a shock to our members and stands out, particularly because they are aware of the COVID-19 leave that is available and allows members to collect these benefits.

An option that was raised by the Union weeks ago but which has not yet been implemented to our great surprise is Work Sharing, which would allow our members to work a reduced block and claim EI benefits. This is a program that would not only mitigate layoffs but keep employees connected to and engaged with the Company and poised for growth and consistency. We are aware that the Federal Government has changed the submission date to 10 days prior to the requested start date (from 30 days prior).

If this had been looked into and applied for when it was initially suggested by the Union, it would have been an integral and highly beneficial mitigation option to provide to our members.

There must be some creativity in finding ways to ensure our members are not thrown on the streets with nothing. As the Union tasked with representing our members and working with the employer to do so, we now send this on to you to be reviewed and offer our assistance in any efforts to be heard by the Government and come to a solution for our vast membership. The Union will do all it can to ensure the Government follows through on its commitment to provide assistance, and we need to ensure that our employer is doing the same by putting in the necessary applications and following up with the needs of its employees.

A response would be appreciated in an expedited manner. As you know, the mitigation process is open at this time, and it would not do Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge or our Shareholders any favours if our members choose not to participate due to a lack of options that benefit them.

Sincerely,

Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE

cc: Air Canada Component Membership
Air Canada Component Executive
Kevin Tyrrell, Component Staff Rep – CUPE National
Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Sr. VP, People, Culture and Communications – Air Canada
Jonathan Turner, Vice-President IFS – Air Canada & President Rouge Operations – Air Canada Rouge
Michael Abbott, Managing Director Labour Relations – Air Canada
Giuseppe Morello, Director Labour Relations – Air Canada

PBS Bid Schedule for June 2020

Lisa Raymond on May 19, 2020

(This applies to Air Canada Mainline only)

PBS bidding for June will open on May 25 at 00:01 and close on May 30 at 08:00. To accommodate the Mitigation bid, the bidding and contesting periods have been reduced. As a result, bidding dates in May (for the June block) will be as follows:

Printed bid packages may not be available for bid open however they will available at the crew centers shortly after. As always, an on-line bid package will be posted on the ACaéronet under Crew Scheduling & Planning > Block Bid Packages.

REDUCED AVAILABILITY IN JUNE

If you are returning from the CEWS or CERB on June 7^th then your bidding window/reserve block will reflect your reduced availability for the June block month.

> REDUCED PAIRINGS BLOCK WINDOW:

– June is an 80-hour month.

– If you are not available for the entire block month (return from LOA, WIP, CEWS, CERB, etc.) then your bid window will be reduced by 2:10 for every day that you are not available in the block month (Collective Agreement B5.01.03). This reduction also applies to RBP.

* For example, you are not on a RBP and you are returning from CEWS on June 7th and are available for the rest of the June block month. You are not available for 3 days in the June block month (June 4, 5 & 6). Your bid window will be reduced by 6:30 (3 x 2:10) which would be 64:30 to 73:30 with 11 GDOs.

– Vacation credits for June, if applicable, will be applied as usual.

– GDO Proration and Vacation Credit information are available on the ACaéronet under Crew Scheduling and Planning > Bidding Tools and Information (Blockholder – GDO & Vacation Credits).

> REDUCED RESERVE BLOCK:

– If you are not available for the entire block month (return from LOA, WIP, CEWS, CERB, etc.) then the number of days off will be reduced. This reduction also applies to RBP.

* For example, you are not on a RBP and you are returning from CEWS on June 7th and are available for the rest of the June block month. You are not available for 3 days in the June block month (June 4, 5 & 6). You are therefore available for 28 days in June. You would have 12 days off of which up to 10 may be GDOs.

– Reserve GDO – Day off Proration information is available on the ACaéronet under Crew Scheduling and Planning > Bidding Tools and Information (Reserve – GDO Proration Table).

NOTE: The examples above are generic and may not apply to your specific situation. Refer to the information available in the Collective Agreement and on the ACaéronet.

BIDDING CONSIDERATIONS IN JUNE

When bidding for June there may be considerations to take into account:

At the time that this bulletin is being prepared the actual flying is still unknown: As with the May bid, you may bid for specific pairings however you may want to back yourself up with bid lines that are more generic (by layover, departure date, pairing length, etc.).

Should you bid for a block/reserve in June if you have also bid for mitigation: Yes. The results of the mitigation bid will not be known until later in the bid period and having a bid in PBS does not supersede a mitigation bid.

Increased coverage possibilities:
- The beginning of the June block month: Since anyone returning from CEWS or CERB in the June block month will not be available until June 7th, there may be increased coverage at the beginning of the June block month.
- The end of the June block month: With the extension of the Canada – US border closure to June 21^st there will likely be a spike in the flying hours at the end of June as the US flights return to the schedule, much like that experienced in May.
- If you believe that you will be affected by coverage during these (or other periods in the month) then you may consider adding bid lines that allow PBS to award you pairings you prefer if coverage is triggered at your seniority.

Should you add a Reserve Bid: adding a reserve bid group does not tell PBS that you want a reserve block over a pairings block unless you instruct it to do so. Additional information and reserve bidding examples are available on the ACaéronet under Crew Scheduling and Planning > Bidding Tools and Information (scroll down to see the bulletin: PBS Bulletin 2020-02 – Dual Classification + Bidding Reserve).

Service Directors required to bid as both SD and FA: SDs who are below the SD seniority indicated on the cover page of the bid package should bid in both the SD and FA classifications. Information on how to do this in PBS are available on the ACaéronet under Crew Scheduling and Planning > Bidding Tools and Information (scroll down to see the bulletin: PBS Bulletin 2020-02 – Dual Classification + Bidding Reserve).

Click HERE for a printable, and downloadable, version of this bulletin.

Mitigation – Special Leave of Absence – CERB Applicable

Surplus Update 20

Surplus Update 19

Open Letter to Calin Rovinescu

PBS Bid Schedule for June 2020

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