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Unifor Local 531 Membership Update Friday, October 28 2022
Hello, WestJetters!
Its been just over 1 year since we opened Bargaining with the Company and as we reflect back to that time, we have to think of everything that we have accomplished. We are proud of the gains we have achieved for our Members and workplaces and are excited about building our future. The implementation of the Collective Agreement has been a very busy time for both our Leadership and Union teams. We have appreciated every question or concern you have brought forward and encourage you to always reach out to us for clarity on the Collective Agreement. There will be some more bumps along the road, as we all learn to live in a new world, but both the Executive Board and WestJet are committed to working together to get it right for you, the Members.
Women’s Activist Education
Breanne Laihow, District Chair YVR and Karen Berry, President of Local 531 were fortunate enough to travel to Unifor’s Family Education Centre in Port Elgin, Ontario October 16th to 21st, to participate in a 40-hour Women’s Advocate Course. The centre is a beautiful place on Lake Huron where union members working in every sector of the economy come together to learn, build relationships, strengthen our union, and emerge as leaders.
Breanne and Karen met with 30 other women from across the country from various industries from Sunday to Friday and learned about how to organize, hold ground on the gains we have made and push forward to build a movement for women’s economic and social equality. We covered a wide range of issues including women’s work and history, understanding oppression, harassment and violence and women in unions. They are excited to bring what they learned back to their Local Union. The development of a Women’s Committee as well as the designation of a Woman’s Advocate will be announced in the near future.
You can read more about their week in Port Elgin here .
Unifor has a Paid Education Leave program and is funded by the negotiated amount in Collective Bargaining. The fund supports the development and delivery of training, the Discussion Leaders, the participation of all members, travel, room and board and all course materials. Our Bargaining Committee negotiated the following Paid Education Language with WestJet:
_-1.01 The Company agrees to pay ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) annually into a special trust fund for a Unifor Paid Education Leave (PEL) program. Such payment will be remitted on September 15th of each year into a trust fund established by the Unifor National Union, starting September 15, 2022. […]
There will be opportunities in the future for Members to be involved in the Education programs offered at Port Elgin.
Scheduling Review Committee
We would like to thank those who applied to be a part of the Scheduling Review Committee for each base. The Executive Board have reviewed the emails you sent us and will be meeting on Monday, October 31st to discuss the suitability of the candidates. We will send out emails confirm and will send out emails to all applicants confirming their successful application.
Executive Board Meetings
We will be holding Executive Board Meetings and Membership Drop-Ins on the following dates:
YYC - November 29, 30 December 1
YVR – December 14 and 15
During these two dates, we will be holding open houses to allow our Members to come out and meet us and ask questions. More details to follow shortly about location and times for both bases.
Collective Agreement Articles Highlight
Each update, we would like to highlight an article from our Collective Agreement. We receive many questions each week about the CBA and would like to share those answers with you. This week we received an email:
“Do you know when we will be getting our uniform alteration money? I heard February. Would it be going directly to our pay cheques, or would we have to submit a receipt? Could you please confirm the amount?
The Bargaining team negotiated the following language for a Uniform Maintenance Allowance:
“Uniform maintenance allowance of one hundred dollars ($100.00) annually for uniformed Employees in the Guest Services Classification and Guest Service Leads will be paid on the first pay date in the month of February. To be eligible for this allowance, such Employees must be Active for a minimum one hundred and eighty (180) days in the previous calendar year.”
Compensation and Pay Administration
Our members have shared with us that they have been having some issues with receiving Relief pay, the correct hourly rate and underpayments on their pay cheques due to processing errors. We would like to ask that everyone please check your offer letters and pay stubs very carefully for errors.
The Bargaining Committee did negotiate language around Pay Discrepancies and we would like to highlight just one part of the Article for you:
Underpayments will be paid to an Employee on the next regular pay date. At the Employee’s request, underpayments in a pay period resulting from a Company error which are in excess of one hundred dollars ($100) will be reimbursed on a separate and off-cycle deposit. The Company shall normally confirm and issue payment within five (5) Business Days of email notification by the Employee to an Employee Support Advisor or designate, of such an underpayment.
If you have not received the appropriate payment on your pay checks, and the amount is over $100, you can request an off-cycle deposit. If you need assistance with this, you can email Workforce and copy your local representatives.
How To Reach Us
Please note that we are in the process of setting up official Unifor emails, a website, and social media pages for Local 531. We will soon be phasing out our Gmail emails and they will be replaced. As soon as we have those set up, we will be sure to communicate them to you. In the meantime, if you require assistance, please email us at [email protected].
In Solidarity,
Local 531 Executive Board
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