On multiple occasions, the Union has received reports of member’s personal items being stolen, removed, or relocated while onboard aircraft.
In June 2019, our Health and Safety Committee sent out a survey asking members to report incidents of this nature. The response that we received was quite informative and it became clear to us that something must be done.
The Union brought this matter to the attention of Air Canada Management at a Union Management meeting on July 25, 2019. After the meeting we followed up with a letter outlining the various occurrences in which our members were affected by the lack of a secure area for stowing personal belongings. This letter outlined the following:
- Our members may have medication in their luggage that they need for health reasons.
- Our members have valuable identification in their luggage, including their RAIC, their passports, and their wallets, the removal of which can lead to security breaches and/or fraud.
- Company documents required for safety (FAM and PELCs) can be in their luggage and they may need access to them.
No meaningful response was received from Air Canada. The Union filed grievances CHQ-19-43 and CHQ-Rouge-19-59 (Click HERE to view the CHQ-19-43 grievance form & Click HERE to view the CHQ-Rouge-19-59 grievance form).
These grievances are moving through the normal course and we would like to ask for your help. If you have experienced theft of personal belongings, or, if your belongings have been relocated or removed to your detriment, we would like to hear from you. We ask that a statement be provided to the Union for the purposes of mediation/arbitration. If you are able to assist us with this we ask that you submit your statement to i.jovic@accomponent.ca. Please note in the subject line “Personal Belongings”.
We rely on your input and statements to help us with policy grievances of this nature as it provides invaluable evidence for us. We look forward to hearing from you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at t.mitchell@accomponent.ca.
Here for you,
Theresa Mitchell
Vice-President, Air Canada Component of CUPE