Lisa Raymond, Author at AC Component

Survey Reminder – Gender Policies

Lisa Raymond on January 14, 2020

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,

Policy Grievance – Failure to Adhere to Safety and Security Protocol

Lisa Raymond on January 10, 2020

We wish to advise you that a policy grievance, CHQ-Rouge-20-03, has been filed for Air Canada’s failure to adhere to Safety and Security Protocol. This is resulting from the company’s request to some of our members to pick up “magical moments” packages left unattended in the crew room to transport through security and customs for delivery to passengers aboard the aircraft. Please click HERE to view the grievance form. We ask that you reach out to your union if you’ve been requested to do this by the company at any point by emailing i.jovic@accomponent.ca.

In Solidarity,

Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE

Traumatic Events

Lisa Raymond on January 10, 2020

With the unfortunate accident in Iran that has impacted many communities, families and flight attendants across the world, we wanted to take the time to let you know we’re here to support you.

Many of our members are from all over the world, including the Middle East. We should embrace our differences and understand the impact that this has on each of us as individuals. Working in the airline industry has daily challenges, and sometimes even emotional ones. These events took the lives of many Iranian Canadians and Canadians alike.

To help, we have linked some suggestions on how to cope after a traumatic event, Click Here.

Please reach out anytime, we are always here,

Wesley Lesosky
President
Air Canada Component of CUPE
w.lesosky@accomponent.ca

Mary Keough
Chairperson
Air Canada Component EAP Committee
eap@accomponent.ca

Are you getting the most out of your pension plan?

Lisa Raymond on January 10, 2020

*** This bulletin is directed to those hired after November 7, 2011 ***

Employees hired after November 7, 2011 at both Air Canada Mainline and Air Canada Rouge are enrolled in a Hybrid Pension Plan. The Hybrid Plan is a combination plan, which contains a Defined Benefit (DB) portion and a Defined Contribution (DC) portion.

For the DB portion you contribute 2.0%, 2.5% or 3.0%, depending on your years of continuous service. The Company contributes the amounts necessary to ensure that the funding of the plan meets the requirements of the Pension Benefits Standards Act and its regulations at all times. You earn DB retirement benefits based on a pre-determined formula using your allowable service and compensation. There are no investment decisions to make on this portion as the employer is responsible for any investment risk.

The DC portion is based on a combination of employee and employer contributions. This is where a decision is necessary on your part. Depending on your years of service, you get to set your level of pension contribution between 1.5% to 3% and the employer matches this between 100% to 175%, also depended on years of service. In order to maximize your DC portion, you should be contributing the maximum you can since the employer matches your contributions and if you’re contributing less, you’re losing out on money.

Let’s take a member with 5 years of service earning $40,000 per year. This employee has the option of contributing 1.5%, 2%, or 2.5%. The employer at this stage matches contributions at 175%. The below table outlines the DC Investment at each contribution level.

Contribution Level	1.5%	2.0%	2.5%
Employee Contribution	$600	$800	$1,000
Employer Contribution	$1,050	$1,400	$1,750
Total DC Investment	$1,650	$2,200	$2,750

As outlined in the above scenario, the member could be losing up to $700 per year in employer contributions if they are not maxing out their contribution. In order to update or check your DC contribution level, login to your Manulife account, under the “My Account” heading select “View/Change My Payroll Deduction Amount”.

In Solidarity,

Your Component Pension Committee

Air Transat Acquisition

Lisa Raymond on January 9, 2020

The Air Canada Component of CUPE has been made aware that the Air Transat Component was motioned to form a Merger Committee.

At this time, the mandate of the Committee is not yet clear to the Air Canada Component, but they do not have the authority or power to override our Mainline or Rouge members’ benefits, working conditions or seniority. Currently there is very limited information being shared from any parties involved with the acquisition and we believe any discussion or preparation needs to be based on fact and not speculation on what may happen. This, we believe, is the most prudent and measured approach.

On December 18, 2019, myself and the Component President for Air Transat, along with CUPE National, met with Transport Canada. The meeting was held to discuss the possible implications to not only the bargaining unit but the Company and passengers in general.

There has been a great deal of consultation required by the government throughout this process, which is still ongoing. This consultation was with trade unions and the travelling public. If it is of interest to you, the following link will provide a little more information on the public consultation:
https://www.tc.gc.ca/en/transport-canada/corporate/consultations/public-consultation-proposed-purchase-transat-a-t-inc-air-canada.html

ACCEX has had a discussion today on how to move forward and will be reaching out to legal for a full consultation and review. Once we have a decision back from legal we will be able to review and move forward with a strategy based on fact.

Once we have more information, your ACCEX will meet as a whole to discuss the impending acquisition, and will keep all members posted. Until we have details such as how the companies will blend, when this will take place, what the company plans to do with Air Transat in general, along with any further Government-imposed rules or regulations, it is difficult to move forward. The last thing we want to do is work based on rumors. We need facts.

We appreciate the many comments that have come in, and the overwhelming amount of support on this issue. Knowledge is power, and until we have any concrete news to go on, we have to remain focused and aware.

In solidarity,

Survey Reminder – Gender Policies

Policy Grievance – Failure to Adhere to Safety and Security Protocol

Traumatic Events

Are you getting the most out of your pension plan?

Air Transat Acquisition

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