The Union is extremely pleased to announce that we have received a positive arbitral decision from Arbitrator Elizabeth J McIntyre upholding a group grievance whereby Air Canada directly contacted crew members during their minimum legal crew rest at a layover station.

The Union argued that the Collective Agreement language in Article B5.05.01 Note I, (negotiated in the 2015 round of bargaining) is very clear, and that during the minimum legal rest period, the company cannot directly contact crew members for any reason. And furthermore, the company is only permitted to leave a silent message in the crew members’ rooms advising of any changes to their schedule during the minimum legal rest period.

The company argued that during the minimum legal rest period, they could directly call crew members 2:30 or less prior to flight departure if the 2:30 or less fell within the minimum legal rest period.

Thankfully, the arbitrator agreed with the Union’s position and upheld the grievance as follows:
“…Conclusion

• After careful consideration of the evidence and the submissions and for the reasons set out above, the grievances are allowed.
• I therefore declare that the Company violated the collective agreement when it directly contacted the grievors during their rest periods on September 27, 2018.
• I further declare that the grievors are entitled to continuous pay for the pairing in question and applicable premiums…”

Please CLICK HERE to see the entire award for more details.

To make sure you understand your rights:
When on a layover at Mainline, and anytime during your minimum legal crew rest period, the company CANNOT directly contact you, for example: they cannot call you on your cell phone or on the hotel phone. They can only ask the hotel to leave you a silent message in your room.

We would like to especially thank our Vancouver Local President for bringing this case forward and helping us reach this incredibly successful outcome. We would also like to thank our Grievance Committee and our grievors who worked on this case which was presented on November 27, 2020.

In solidarity,