Click HERE to view the latest issue of Life Lines published by Homewood Health. In it you will find many tips to reduce stress in the workplace and in your personal life.
Please take the time to read it and try and incorporate some of these helpful ideas in your daily life.
Wishing you all the best,
Mary Keough
Chair, Component EAP Committee
We have received a flood of comments from members about the revised Premium Economy service standards (13DEC19 MMN, 15JAN20 globe bulletin). When taken in full context of the PY position, which may include float duties in J and for boarding, these extra tasks are nearly impossible to achieve.
The Union is very concerned by the company’s non-stop quest to add service without increasing crew complement and the negative effects its members report that this is having on them.
How can you help us represent you?
As members you should know that rushing is often found to be a contributing cause of onboard injuries. Your safety management will ALWAYS say that you should never rush. But how is that possible when the entire service is engineered AS a mad dash? How are our members expected to juggle these contradictory messages – especially with onboard managers present and timing them?
Report to the company and keep your Union in the loop. We’re all in this together and we’re only as strong as each other.
In solidarity,
Your Air Canada Component of CUPE Health and Safety Committee
Your time is valuable and you should not be expected to work for free has been the Union’s moto this term and multiple grievances have been filed on this front, most notably the Move Me News Grievance related to the mandatory reading of it. Please continue to put in a pay claim each time you are required to read this publication, as the company says, it’s part of ePub.
This is an issue that has plagued Flight Attendants for years, as you will see in the bulletins linked below that have been issued by your union throughout the years. Please note that these may contain outdated information. We remind you to always refer to your FAM and ePub for the most current procedures.
Strength By Action – Issue 41 – What Are Your Priorities – 20050620
You & Your Rights – Issue 21 – Time is valuable – 20050908
You & Your Rights – Issue 36 – Pre-Post Duty Periods – 20060912
Your Rights – Issue1-WhenWillEnoughBeEnough-20090217
Safety First – Issue 3 – Time Permitting – 20091106
Component Officers Message – Issue 9 – Early Boarding Or Finish Your Safety Checks – 20130507
The Company has always found ways to ask Flight Attendants to donate more of your free time and get to the aircraft earlier. The solution is not for Flight Attendants to report for duty earlier, it is for the Company to begin the duty period earlier and increase the amount of time required to check in prior to departure. Please continue to report to the Comm Centre at your required and published report time on Globe, there is no need to report earlier and commence your duty period without acknowledgment of the time you are putting in to make us a 10 star airline. You need to be prepared to operate, and to do so you must check in first, verify your 356 is up to date (for mainline members your check in is at the Comm Centre) and then proceed to the gate.
Make sure you do the following for your safety, the safety of your crew and the safety of our passengers:
Pre-flight Safety checks and duties include:
NOTE: A physical safety inspection to check the availability, accessibility and serviceability of safety equipment in the vicinity of your assigned flight attendant station is required on all flights when any of the following apply. Deficiencies must be reported to the in-charge:
Our duties have not changed, and we will continue to do our job responsibly and diligently. Remember your priorities – Flight Attendants are safety professionals and should not feel pressured to compromise on safety.
The Union filed Policy grievance CHQ-19-63 – Abuse of Management Rights – Unreasonable Service Level Increases on December 19, 2019, in response to the new PY enhancements when they were originally announced as we, like you, were floored that the company would come out and demand more, when we clearly are strapped as is, with some of the lowest crew compliments in the aviation industry. If the company wants more, they will need to add more crews, that is the only way to stretch out what limited time we have four nourishment, contractual breaks and time to prepare. We are not robots, nor are we physically or mentally able to just give more.
We need everyone’s assistance in gathering evidence for grievance CHQ-19-63 Unreasonable Service Level Increases (see full bulletin HERE). Please send your detailed statement to i.jovic@accomponent.ca. Also, please remember to always fill out health and safety forms (H&S Concern forms/e-reports) if you notice any safety concerns as a result of these new service increases.
As the new service rolls out, we will rely on those of you working the flights to report back to your Union about the issues you face. Please send in reports as you see fit so we can address them through this grievance process. We also ask that you share this bulletin and encourage each other to report to your Union any deficiencies in the way this is being rolled out.
We completely appreciate the company wanting us to strive higher and be industry leaders, we all want that, but we are maxed out.
Remember, breaks are contractual, and safety always comes first.
We have been addressing this with Labour, and to date the only avenue to move this forward is through the grievance process. We are as disappointed with having to go this route as you are having to wait for an outcome on it. We will have follow-up information on this coming out shortly and appreciate the hundreds of emails received at all levels of the Union, we will reply to all of them.
In Solidarity,
Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE
As part of our promise to increase open communication to our members we are proud to introduce the first Air Canada Component App and Instagram page!
We want to hear from you. If you have any suggestions to make the app more user friendly or if there is information that you would like to see added please let us know. Send an email to contact@accomponent.ca and we will make sure to review your suggestions.
We are consistently updating our information to help you stay abreast of legal proceedings, arbitrations, block rules, reserve rules, disability claims and the many grievances that wind their way through the process daily. Of special note is the Contact and Resource section. Our members have built up their power through official reporting to the union this term in unprecedented numbers and we are very happy to work for you. Everything you report gives us the ability to make positive change. The launch of the app along with our website will give you even more tools.
You can download the app here:
IOS download: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ac-component/id1485889758
Android download: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.unionmarketing.accomponent
Your login information for our new mobile app is the same as your login for the Air Canada Component website, which can be found at www.accomponent.ca. If you have not signed in to the website since we updated it in 2019 you will need a password, which can be obtained by clicking on the “Forgot Your Password” link at the bottom of the website’s sign in section.
We recommend that you allow push notifications to enhance your use of the app and to ensure that you are always up to date.
The Instagram account is aircanadacomponent. We want the Instagram page to be a fun place where you can share the world with your colleagues! Send us your pictures of amazing places to eat, shop, and explore, showcasing incredible crews doing what they love. Stay tuned and maybe you will discover a new and exciting place to bid or to go on vacation.
On behalf of the Component Executive, we would like to thank the membership for your continued support and positive feedback. We feel privileged to represent our members and want to do all we can to continue to build our solidarity. Our strength lies in continued communication and collaboration and we believe that 2020 is the year that we will collectively accomplish our goals and have a strong and unified membership.
In solidarity,
As we advised you last week, the Union is seeking input from members uniquely affected by the Company’s arbitrary policies of gender specific uniforms and appearance standards. We are seeking guidance from our trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming members, as well as other members who are affected by the Company’s gendered appearance policies. We welcome feedback from both Mainline and Rouge flight attendants.
Please click on the link below to take the survey, which will be closing on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 at 5:00 pm (EST). We ask that you be as candid and honest as possible.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SSFPBJ3
If you are willing to be contacted by the Union for follow-up, should that be necessary, please feel free to share your name and contact information with us. Please note that identifying information is not necessary to participate, and the survey default allows for anonymity.
In solidarity,
