On July 12th our Bargaining Committee bulletin outlined the Bargaining Committee, National staff, Legal counsel and our media company who will be involved in our upcoming 2025 Negotiations. We would be remiss if we did not also give insights into those who support the work of the Bargaining Committee and the countless staff who are working behind the scenes.

Carmela Iermieri is the Component Grievance Committee Chairperson and has worked with the committee for 17 years. She has extensive knowledge of the Collective Agreement and past practice and has been tracking the Collective Agreement shortcomings and language deficits on an ongoing basis. She has been involved in Union arbitration preparations and oversees grievances across all bases. She has been a Bargaining Committee consultant since 2009 and was at the bargaining table for the 2019 and 2022 bargaining reopener sessions.  She has accepted our request to be actively involved in negotiation planning and will continue to serve as an advisor and be engaged in bargaining survey review, negotiation preparations, proposal writing, post bargaining implementation and potential post bargaining litigation. She is a crucial part of our institutional memory and will serve us all very well during negotiations and beyond with her wisdom, knowledge, and experience. While Carmela is busy with Bargaining preparations, she will continue to work with the Grievance Committee as required. In her stead Grievance Committee members Dionne Solomon and Kirk Horsman will continue the grievance work diligently and ensure that the work and our high standards will not cease.

Ivana Jovic has worked as Executive Assistant to the Grievance Committee since 2003. She has maintained and overseen the grievance database which contains thousands of documents and historical information. She works closely with the Grievance Committee Chairperson to ensure that all grievances and their corresponding documentation are organized. She manages all the mediation and arbitration meetings of the union, which is a monumental task. This includes all grievance correspondence, file management and organizing if data. She liaises with the local offices to keep track of grievances and is responsible for the filing of all grievances and providing support for the entire Grievance Committee. We are very grateful to have her as a member of our team and know that she will continue to ensure that her work continues while we focus on the work of negotiations. She will obtain and provide any historical information required from this database to support the negotiations process.

Merilee Pirri, Executive Assistant to the Component President has been working in this role since 2005. Her attention to detail, day-to-day meetings and ability to keep the President organized is an almost impossible task. The correspondence, scheduling, meeting management and so many other crucial elements of her job are not to be understated. She takes on this work with great professionalism and will continue to provide invaluable support as we move forward. Her role in negotiations will include note taking, letter writing, paperwork organization and behind the scenes coordinator.

Executive Assistant Lisa Raymond is an integral part of our continued success. She has been working with the Air Canada Component since 2002. Whether it is bulletin preparations, website updates, support of the Component Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer, expense claim management, social media content oversight and myriad other tasks. Her quick mind and ability to stay on top of an infinite workload is truly an asset for us all. Her role during bargaining will be to support and produce all negotiations bulletins, manage our website and give updates to the membership.  She will monitor and update all social media content and provide support while we are focused on the job at hand.

Our longstanding CUPE staff member Cathie Bumbaca has worked with the Component since 1993.  Her institutional knowledge and historic recollection of the past is unmatched. She manages all travel and accommodations for Officers and Committee members and manages our membership database, flight releases, business events, mail, correspondence, phone inquiries and countless other office duties. She is a true asset and will serve as a solid support during negotiations and beyond.

Our Finance Executive Assistant, Josephine Le Grassa, has been with the Component since 2019.  She handles all bookkeeping tasks in collaboration with Component Secretary-Treasurer Guillaume Leduc. During bargaining, she will ensure all financial data is accurately entered into our accounting software and produce the necessary reports for daily accounting. She will continue to ensure a smooth continuation of our financial responsibilities throughout the negotiation process.

Also, a reminder about the Bargaining 2025 Roadshow Recap Zoom Meeting. As we previously advised you, following the bargaining roadshows, the Union will host an information session on Zoom. In this session we will review what was shared at the Roadshows, and will provide a recap of additional comments and questions that were posed by members that were in attendance. The Zoom meeting will be held on August 9, 2024 from 12:00 to 14:00h EDT. Registration for this event is open to all members system wide. Please click the link below to register:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x2oZiXGHS_6RRWiPDKBjDA

In solidarity,

Your Bargaining Committee