Over the weekend there was a great deal of information coming from various sources about a variety of issues. In our ongoing commitment to keep you informed we wanted to provide an update:
Air Canada CleanCare + Program
As many of you have read today, Air Canada has announced the “Air Canada CleanCare + Program”. This program is set to include:
- Mandatory pre-flight customer temperature checks, the first in the Americas
- More personal space in Economy Class at least until June 30, 2020
- Personal care kits for customers containing disinfectant and safety items
- Electrostatic cabin spraying to reinforce aircraft grooming protocols
- Revised food product minimizing crew and passenger contact
- Customer face-coverings and employee personal protective equipment now mandatory
The Union is happy to see this change, and more importantly to see that Air Canada is moving forward as a leader in safety. We are very interested in how this will be received onboard, by our crews. Please reach out to Health and Safety with any questions, concerns or feedback you may have.
There is more information provided here: https://www.aircanada.com/us/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2020/cleancareplus.html
Employment Security – Mitigations
In our last update, we advised you that we were moving forward with mitigation discussions and were set to meet with the employer on this. We met with them last week and have had preliminary discussions on the application of LOU 60.05. We feel it will help everyone if you review it so that you have an understanding of the process and the Collective Agreement Language outlining it:
L60.05 EMPLOYMENT SECURITY
L60.05.01 Prior to a reduction in forces which results in layoffs, Air Canada shall notify the Union well in advance of this action being taken in order to enable the parties to discuss ways of avoiding a layoff or minimizing the adverse effects of a layoff. To this end, the parties will attempt to determine appropriate alternatives, which could be available to employees affected.
L60.05.02 Should a reduction in forces trigger Division IX of Part III of the Canada Labour Code, the parties will apply the provisions of that Division.
L60.05.03 In the event that a reduction in forces occurs to which the requirements of Division IX of the Canada Labour Code do not apply, Air Canada agrees to mitigate any reduction in forces by offering mitigation options in the following order:
L60.05.03.01 A travel card program with a C-3 priority for any cabin personnel with more than 15 years of service who wishes to resign. Air Canada Mainline will communicate to the Union the company’s policy governing this.
L60.05.03.02 Leaves of absences up to the number required to mitigate layoffs to cabin personnel in order of seniority. The terms of the special leaves of absences will continue to apply to such leaves.
L60.05.03.03 If there are insufficient mitigations, the following programs will be offered and awarded on the basis of seniority:
• Mini-blocks to cabin personnel;
• The opportunity to utilize accrued vacation to cabin personnel;
L60.05.03.04 Any other mitigation agreed to by the parties at the time a surplus is identified.
With the language above aligning with our current situation, we are moving forward with L60.05.01. This means that we are reviewing mitigations to minimize the adverse effects of layoffs on the membership. This is one reason you have not seen any layoff notices. We appreciate the Company put out a communication that layoff notices were coming. We were assured they have not gone out for inflight and that the Union will be kept advised prior to them going out to our members. We will keep you advised, and notified of any updates to further mitigations, layoffs and job security as we move through this process.
CEWS and CERB
Many of you have reached out to us about your CEWS totals, and the seven-day absence from the payroll. We have reviewed many of these scenarios with both Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge. To clarify, this would apply to people that were off the payroll (not available to fly) for 7 days in a block month, and would only make a difference to your overall compensation if you flew the rest of the month. This adjustment would additionally be done for those members on any of the following leaves:
- Maternity leave
- Parental leave
- Childcare leave
- Breastfeeding Leave
- Paternity leave
- Care for critically ill adult
- Care for critically ill child
- Worker’s Compensation
- Group Disability
For those of you who have been identified as having an adjusted calculation as per the information above, we will be reaching out to advise you of your new amount. You will also be contacted by Air Canada/Air Canada Rouge, by email.
Members who elected to take voluntary leaves and/or reduced blocks, or who were on any other type of leave, would not have their CEWS wages adjusted. The original adjustment provided for you was as per the Government guidelines. They can be found here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/subsidy/emergency-wage-subsidy/cews-frequently-asked-questions.html
Wage Indemnity Plan Board of Trust Q & A document
We have confirmed with the WIP Board of Trust that there will be a question and answer document provided to you this week. We understand that there are many questions coming in and appreciate your patience. There are many administrative elements involved and they have been working diligently to provide a comprehensive document for the membership.
In solidarity,
