days until our Collective Agreement expires, we are preparing, we are united and we will make change.

Component Secretary-Treasurer Update

Dear Members,

After being in office for 3 months, I wanted to send a quick update with some information on the finances at the Component level of your Union.
 
As most are aware, the Union receives almost all of its funds from you, the member.  Air Canada deducts the dues off of your pay once a month and sends it to Component for distribution.  At the Component level we receive the money and disburse it to CUPE National and our 5 Local Unions under our Component which includes rouge.
 
Each year we do a budget to manage our money and ensure that we have enough allocated to both committee work and regular office maintenance and staff wages.  The current budget that was put in by the last Air Canada Component Executive (ACCEX) ends June 30, 2017 and then the new budget, once approved by ACCEX will commence July 1, 2017.
 
With the influx of hiring at both mainline and rouge, we will have a larger amount of revenue coming in to use towards enforcing out Collective Agreement, grievance handling and committee work that directly benefits our members as a whole.
 
Our next ACCEX meeting will be held the week of the May 22, 2017 in Montreal and I will be presenting the 2017-2018 Component budget to all your Local Presidents and Component Officers for discussion and review.  We may not come to a solid decision on our spending at that meeting, but our objective is to have open discussion on how the finances have been run and how we can continue to run them for the following year.

CURRENT PROJECTS
Currently we are looking at a few items to address some concerns at the Component Office.  We have a need to address the lighting throughout the building, door access, which we would like to change to a FOB system so that the changing of locks each term is no longer an issue for security and safeguard of files and materials.  We are also currently in negotiations with 4 of our administrative staff that are part of the IAM union.
 
FINANCES
Currently we are dealing with a large discrepancy in amounts owed to Air Canada for members of the Union released for Union work.  We also have outstanding monies owed from CUPE National that are owed back to the Component for bargaining costs associated for the first contract negotiated for rouge as a start-up.  Meetings with the Company have been arranged to deal with the discrepancy and discussions with CUPE National will take place in the future to resolve the money owed regarding rouge.  We are also working on getting reimbursed for members we paid that went on to CUPE National to work at the National level.  All of these “pay disputes” were inherited and something that has taken time to catch up on and move forward with.  Much detail was left and obtained through our onsite bookkeeper so the transition was smooth to get caught up to speed on the status of these items.
 
In closing, I would like to mention all financial information for the Component and your Local Union office is available through your Local Union, or by contacting me at the email below.  These are your Union dues and we use them to benefit your best interest, in accordance with the Component Bylaws.  If you require anything, please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.
 
In Solidarity,

Wesley Lesosky
Component Secretary-Treasurer
w.lesosky@accomponent.ca