A Message From The President

Dear members,
I wanted to provide a brief update to the membership.  Going forward, we will be providing a Quarterly Report by the end of the month following each quarter.
Since taking office on February 1st, the Component Executive has been working very hard to get acclimated to our new roles and team. We met with Michel and Edith last week to complete the transition.  Thanks to everyone for your continued support and patience as we transition into our new roles.
In the first three months, we’ve managed to get caught up on the substantial amount of outstanding grievances and unresolved issues. Several arbitration hearings have resulted in positive outcomes for our members.  Many outstanding grievances that have been “delayed” have been moved up the priority list.  Employer/Component meetings have occurred with a focus on the best long-term solution for our members. Specific details of grievances, contract implementation issues, and resolutions will be provided in the Air Canada Component (ACC) Quarterly report.
Local elections were completed on February 24^th. Congratulations to the new local officers elected.   A total of 29 representatives were elected and acclaimed including 5 Presidents, 29 Vice Presidents and 5 Secretary Treasurers.  I look forward to working with all of the Local Officers.   The Locals are the heart of this union and I will continue to support the increased growth of local involvement in all aspects of this union.
We had our first official ACCEX meeting on March 23rd (which for all you new members is the Air Canada Component Executive: 5 Local Presidents and 3 Component Officers) and are preparing for our next one to be held on May 23rd. In March, all Officers were invited to participate in a two-day seminar facilitated by CUPE National. It was a great opportunity for Component and Local Officers to come together and meet in person.
All existing committees were reviewed and revised where appropriate.  Something new – where possible, committee positions have been advertised to all membership to apply.  This will continue as positions become available.  If interested, please throw your name in the hat!
The ACC financial system and related processes were reviewed to ascertain changes required to facilitate more timely and accurate financial reporting.  As a result, a decision was made to update our financial system and various internal processes to provide more accountable, consistent reporting to the membership.
Additional activities in the first three months included attending the Council of Component Presidents’ Meeting (which is the Airline Division’s Presidents Council) where I was updated on key issues and strategies.  I also attended the Air Canada Counsel of Union’s meeting to join forces on issues affecting all employees, and I continue to work with CUPE National to develop a strategy against Bill C-27 and attacks on pension.
We are completing the work started by the past executive on launching a new and improved website and we added a new App to the project that will enable us to send notifications.  We also have a few exciting projects for the near future that we want to bring to ACCEX.
Last and certainly not least, we attended many New Hire Presentations in Montreal, Vancouver & Toronto for both Rouge & mainline.  It was great meeting all the new people and sharing some of our “veteran” stories.  It sure brought me back to the time I first began, not knowing what to expect and filled with trepidation about what the future held.   Please do take the new folks under your wing and give them the support that I am sure you were given by one of the many members of our awesome FA family.
In solidarity,
Marie-Hélène Major
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE