Friday October 20th, 2023
Hello,
We’ve received a few questioning messages following the publication of the latest company memo in connection with Smartlynx. We’d like to shed some light on the latest events to hopefully make this situation clearer and more logical for everyone.
Here’s a chronology of events to help us all see more clearly and undo your employer’s imposed perception of your union. You can find a copy of Letter of Understanding 23 at clicking HERE and the amendment to Letter of Understanding 23 at clicking HERE
– Letter of agreement no. 23 was signed on February 23, 2023.
– The Smartlynx contract began at YYZ in April and was open to all bases at the time. A YUL-based cabin crew member could therefore apply for and remain on the subcontract for the duration of the agreement.
– In May, the employer informed the union of additional positions to be filled.
Discussions then began on how to proceed to fill these positions. The union took the position that pure seniority needed to be respected and therefore the drafting should continue. If a second posting had been done, it would have put the people that had already applied in the orginal posting, at a disadvantage and unfairness.
The Smartlynx subcontract then continued at YYZ, extending to YUL and entering phase 2.
The employer first approached us about Smartlynx phase 2 in early September. Since then, your union has been quick to make the necessary corrections to ensure that the issues raised at YYZ with phase 1 are not repeated in phase 2. To this end, we signed an Ammendment to LOU 23, which you can find above.
When we signed the ammendment and agreed to all the details, the employer never communicated its intention to separate the recruitment process into 2 phases. Recruitment was to take place in one phase only.
Because of the employer’s approximate manpower requirements since the start of this contract in April, it was impossible for us to know that the positions opened on the September 7 publication did not cover all the requirements of this sub-contract at YUL.
– On September 15, the results are communicated to YUL base cabin crew only.
– On September 26, local 4041 intercepts an e-mail between a YUL SUP and a newly drafted YUL member on Smartlynx, mentioning that the company will be proceeding with a 2nd opening shortly. This is the first time we heard of a 2nd opening.
– On September 26, Local 4041 contacts SEV managers to try to understand what’s going on, and to repair and prevent the nightmare that’s looming on the horizon.
– On September 27, the union takes a firm stand on how to proceed following the company’s error in its original posting: in order to respect YYZ’s way of doing things, which dates back only a few months, article 2.2 of LOU 23 must be respected, and the company must unfortunately draft to fill its needs. All this is confirmed to SEV managers at the same time.
– On September 29, the SEV, to our great surprise and without taking our decision into account, publish’s a 2nd job opening, allowing anyone to apply on Smartlynx, thus creating a huge precedent and, above all, a great deal of potential frustration among our members.
– On September 29, Local 4041 wrote to the SEV manager to ask what he had misunderstood about the union’s position and why a posting for an open position had just been published. Our message was ignored…
– On October 5, the Component sent an initial e-mail to Mr. Teixeira to resolve the problem and ensure that our questions were answered.
– This was followed by several verbal, e-mail and telephone exchanges between the component and the company on the subject.
– We received a formal e-mail from Mr Teixeira on October 10.
– We ask that the error be rectified on October 10 and that a publication explaining the situation be issued by SEV on October 10.
– On October 10, Mr. Teixeira replies that our request will be respected, but that the SEV will make no communication.
– We were in negotiation preparation days on October 11-12 and 13, and therefore unable to action Smartlynx. However, we asked the company to respect the of opening positions to YYZ cabin crew, as that was not done during the first posting. YYZ cabin crew did not have access to the list of candidates and therefore had no advantage. Once again, the company admits its mistake and acknowledges that it should have opened up the positions to YYZ, since this had been the case for YUL in the first phase.
– We then learn that the process will be delayed and that publication will only take place on October 19.
Finally, the results were published on October 19, blaming the union, while we did everything we could to avoid the chaos. In doing so, the employer creates a division that it relishes every time you publish against your union on social media or on the e-mails you send to us where you vent with the employer on copy. Your employer’s ultimate goal has been achieved!
We hope that after reading this, you’ll have a better understanding of all the steps your union has taken to get to where we are today. We can’t make do with the past, and we need to protect the future from a global perspective. This decision and stance may not please everyone, but it would be different if the people currently affected had taken the chance to apply on the first posting and suddenly 20 people more senior to them were applying on a 2nd posting for the same sub-contract. Since the beginning of this type of sub-contract, the selection process has been the same; Smartlynx is no exception. We played devil’s advocate, turning the file upside down and looking at it from every angle; we always came back to the same conclusion.
If you don’t agree with the lack of transparency, we suggest you contact your SEV to ask them why they didn’t see fit to warn you of the change in position as early as September 29. The union is not responsible for and cannot manage the employer’s communications; only they had the authority to inform you of the changes to their sub-contract.
To date, we are awaiting answers as to why the employer decided to open more positions than the 10 DV and 25 FA provided for in LOU23. Once again, a (bad) surprise!
In solidarity,
Your Component Executive