The Union recently issued a bulletin concerning cabin air quality (Click HERE to view), and since then two company documents have been referenced prominently in the Mid-November issue Move Me News (Employee Communication Regarding Cabin Air Quality – Update CSSI_12-06R2, and Frequently Asked Questions About Cabin Air Quality – Update CSSI_12-06R2_FAQ). It is the Union’s understanding that these documents have also been provided to its members following recent fume events.
To put it bluntly, the Union’s position is that the company’s cabin air quality literature cherry-picks the science and facts that suit it while discrediting research conducted by reputable scientists and world-renowned academic institutions that don’t. Furthermore, the company’s documents make factually incorrect and/or misleading statements regarding assurances from both health and safety officers as well as Occupational Health and Safety Tribunal Decisions concerning cabin air quality.
Cabin air quality is something the Union takes very seriously. It has over 15 years of experience in dealing with this issue on your behalf. Oil and hydraulic fluid fumes can contaminate the ventilation air onboard and are a concern. The fact that it has been normalized by industry is no excuse.
Some major airlines are now working with companies like Pall Aerospace and their unions to address this problem at its source through total filtration technologies. These are real solutions to a real problem and the Union encourages our company to do the same. Why is an airline with a proud history of firsts choosing address fume events as regular maintenance and nuisance events when air should simply be clean – period?
Ask yourself: Would your managers or company executives find it acceptable to have odourous mists containing oil or other mechanical fluids in their offices at any concentration at any time? We think not.
Attached in the link below, please find the Union’s response to the company’s bulletin, simply intended to set the record straight. We pose the same questions as the company, but – as you can read below – our answers are quite different. For the Union’s take on reporting these events, skip to point #12.
DISCLAIMER: This bulletin contains important technical information. Translation can sometimes alter the meaning of such messages. In order to avoid any confusion, the original English version will be considered the official version.
In Solidarity,
