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days until our Collective Agreement expires, we are preparing, we are united and we will make change.

Coronavirus Update 20

Lisa Raymond on March 30, 2020

Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge have an ongoing legal responsibility to ensure the protection of the health and safety of Cabin Crew members.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered our work environment.  We need to ensure that appropriate safety measures are consistently in place.  This past week, the government of Canada put in place emergency measures that require mandatory 14-day self-isolation for all persons entering or returning to Canada.  While it exempted Cabin Crew, it said that Cabin Crew should “practise social distancing (maintain a distance of 2 metres from others)” and recommended that Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge conduct active daily monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms.

The Union is very concerned that insufficient steps have been taken to protect you from COVID-19.  We have heard from some of you already about concerns of transmission of the virus in the aircraft as well as insufficient protective equipment.

We are continuously assessing the safety measures in place, as they are rapidly changing, but we need your help to ensure that we have a very clear understanding of what is happening onboard.

The Union is requesting information from you.  Please reply to this email with the following information, to the best of your ability.  We may follow-up with you on an individual basis for more information.  Please provide your full name. employee number, base and phone number.

  1. Have you been onboard with a confirmed COVID-19 case?
    1. Did the Company notify you?
    2. Did the Union notify you?
    3. Please provide the flight information (Flt # and Date)?
  2. Have you been able to access COVID-19 testing post-incident?
    1. If yes, did you test positive or negative for COVID-19?
    2. If you tested positive, did you contact the Company?  What response/information were you given?
    3. Do you live with others who have also tested positive or are exhibiting symptoms?
  3. Onboard, were you sufficiently supplied with:
    1. Gloves?
    2. N95 mask?
    3. Storage for your protective equipment?
    4. Hand sanitizer/ wipes and potable water?
  4. Is there anything else we should know?

This information is crucial to the proper enforcement of protective equipment.  We will be following up with further information.,  If you have already sent an update to your Local or Component, please resend to contact@accomponent.ca so we have the most up to date info.
In Solidarity,

Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Exposure on flights, cruise ships and at mass gatherings

Lisa Raymond on March 30, 2020

The link below is for information purposes.  If you were a crew member on one of these flights, the company will reach out to you to advise, and the Union will also be notified so we can follow up and offer further assistance (WSIB/WCB, EAP, etc.).

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/latest-travel-health-advice/exposure-flights-cruise-ships-mass-gatherings.html

Airline Federal Aid Package Proposed By Canada’s Unions

Lisa Raymond on March 28, 2020

Dear Members,

Through the Airline Division and CUPE National, the message below is something we should all share and immediately do. We must apply pressure where needed.

Make your voice heard!

– – – 

Tell Prime Minister Trudeau that a federal aid package focusing on airline workers is needed now.

Dear members,

As you know, thousands of airline workers, including thousands of CUPE’s Airline Division members, have already been laid off due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, and the airline industry needs help now to stay afloat in coming months.

Send an email to Prime Minister Trudeau to make sure any federal relief for the airline industry focuses first and foremost on workers like CUPE’s 15,000 flight attendant members.

Just press send and the Prime Minister will receive the following email:

Dear Prime Minister,

The COVID-19 pandemic and sweeping government efforts to combat it are now having a far-reaching impact on airline and Canada’s 50,000 airline workers who are laid-off by thousands. Since your government bears some responsibility for the financial consequences for airlines and their employees, an airline federal aid package focusing on workers is needed now. This airline relief package must maintain and return employees to payroll, protect collective bargaining rights, and come with legal guarantees that financial support from the government will go first to support workers’ wages, salaries, and benefits. CUPE and our allies in the labour movement are clear that this should not be a handout with no-strings-attached, and we expect that any public investment into the industry should result in a public stake in the company or companies involved. Finally, any proposed relief package from the federal government must be developed in consultation with, and have the consent of, the bargaining agents representing airline workers.

CUPE and the other Canadian airline unions are ready to talk now.

Sincerely,

Please share this political action link with your friends.

To find out more about the content of the immediate airline federal aid package proposed by Canada’s unions, read the letter sent to the government by CUPE National President Mark Hancock, along with the leaders of the Canadian Labour Congress and other unions representing 50,000 airline workers across the country. Click HERE to view.

In Solidarity,

Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE

Tenant Rights In The Time Of COVID-19

Lisa Raymond on March 28, 2020

The Union has been made aware of several incidents wherein our members, along with their fellow tenants, are being harassed by superintendents and landlords in the buildings in which they rent.  In particular, the Union has been advised by multiple members that they are being asked to disclose their nationality and/or citizenship or residency status.  Members have also been asked to disclose whether they have recently traveled outside the country.

While it may be that building owners and managers are trying to protect their tenants and have the best intentions in mind, please note that tenants have specific rights.  These rights differ among the provinces and territories.

If you or one of your colleagues has experienced this kind of behaviour, we encourage you to make use of the resources below, depending on your province of residence.  We have identified resources in each of our bases, and former bases, and the contacts at each should be able to connect you with or direct you to more local resources should you live away from the airport base.

Vancouver
Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre
http://tenants.bc.ca/

Calgary
Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta
https://www.cplea.ca/humanrightswhenrenting/

Winnipeg
Winnipeg Rental Network
https://www.winnipegrentnet.ca/

Toronto
Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations
https://www.torontotenants.org/

Montreal
Régie du logement
https://www.rdl.gouv.qc.ca/

Halifax
Dalhousie Legal Aid Service
https://www.legalinfo.org/housing-owning-renting-neighbours/dalhousie-legal-aid-tenant-rights-guide

In solidarity,

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