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 Please note that these may contain outdated information.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:

• Stow your baggage in designated cabin crew stowage compartments.
• Cabin defect log reviewed by in-charge and crew informed of any inoperative or unavailable equipment onboard.
• Ensuring the pilot briefing occurs (flight conditions, taxi time, controlled rest, etc.)
• Having up-to-date publications including Dangerous Goods Training Certificate in either paper or acceptable electronic forms.
• Attend a safety briefing with your entire crew (including any qualified gate support personnel who may be assisting with boarding).
• Ensuring your jumpseat is serviceable: securely anchored, fully retractable, straps not twisted or frayed, inertia wheel operative, seat belt / harness adjusted to fit and stowed.
• Verifying that all safety and emergency equipment meet serviceability requirements as per the pre-flight checks in the FAM Chapter 4.
• Verifying that water tanks are full and waste tanks have been serviced and are functional (freeze protection panel functional on E90).
• Safety features cards should be checked to ensure they correspond to the aircraft.
• Safety demo equipment (video and manual) are accessible and functional for use.
• All circuit breakers should be checked to ensure they are operative.
• Required security inspection(s) completed:
  • Verify that there are no suspicious items onboard, including in the cabin, in the galleys, as well as the galley equipment and lavatories as per FAM Chapter 2.
  • Ensure white tamper evident seals are in place in the lavatories and advise captain if any indication of tampering.
• If a Medipak is required, make sure it is in its specified location and confirm with the Captain that it is onboard/missing.
• Ensuring galley equipment is secured, latched, and operative.
• Ensuring door areas are clear and available for emergency use.
• Ensuring Emergency Positions and safety equipment checklist is filled out, reviewed, and submitted to the Captain.
• Ensuring cabin curtains/dividers are open and secure.
• Ensuring IFE system is ON and screens functional (necessary for safety demo)
• The Company also suggests you verify that there is no grease on any of the oven racks and no paper products in the ovens.

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:

• The aircraft has been left unattended for any period of time.
• There is a crew change where the in-charge to in-charge briefing didn’t occur.
• At any other time, the crew deems it necessary due to concerns.

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