WHAT IS A GRIEVANCE?
Our Agreement defines a grievance as “all differences concerning the interpretation, application, administration, or alleged violation of the Collective Agreement”. In short, any violation of our contract, of the law, of the rights of our Members.
EXAMPLES OF COMMON GRIEVANCES
Experience has shown that certain problems occur often. Everyone has been in a situation wherein they feel that they were entitled toan open flying for example, yet it was given to someone else. Some of our hardest working Members are our reserve flight attendants and we see violations of their rights too. We also see numerous grievances involving discipline issued to our members.
In general, you are likely to have a grievance if you are being treated in a manner that appears to be different from the norm and contrary to that required by the Collective Agreement
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO
If you believe you may have a grievance you should immediately contact your Local office (Union office at the airport). Please do not delay; there are time limits within which a grievance must be formally filed. Please ensure you provide your local with all evidence, i.e. a written statement of the event (a must for all grievances), screenshots, pictures, written witness statements, names of Company representatives you spoke to (who, when, where, what), emails/letters between yourself and Company representatives and any other relevant evidence you can think of or your local requests from you. Unfortunately, many grievances have been lost because of an individual’s reluctance to seek resolution through the formal grievance procedure or to provide a statement and evidence to support their grievance before the time limits have passed. Be sure to contact your Local office as soon as possible for assistance with determining if you have a valid grievance and how to go about defining and resolving it.
Go to contact us for email addresses and phone numbers.
THE ARBITRATION STEP (Last Step of the Grievance Process)
Any member can approach the Union requesting that a grievance be filed on his/her behalf however the Union has carriage of all grievances. The Union has the discretion to file or not file a grievance, will process a grievance through the initial steps and has the legal authority to pursue or not pursue a grievance to arbitration. At any point prior to arbitration the parties can mutually agree to a settlement of the dispute and end the process. If, however, Air Transat refuses to be reasonable, the Grievance Committee (locals or component) in conjunction with our Legal Department will review the case and discuss its merits to furthering it to arbitration.
As outlined in s. 37 of the Canada Labour Code, employees do not have the absolute right to demand a grievance be filed, or if one is filed, that their grievance be referred to arbitration. A union may decide not to file a grievance or not to pursue a grievance, or may settle a grievance without the employee’s agreement, as long as the union’s decision is not arbitrary, discriminatory or made in bad faith.
ENFORCING THE CONTRACT
A strong grievance procedure vigorously enforced by the Union is necessary to ensure equitable treatment under the contract. We recommend that all Members periodically review their Collective Agreement and become familiar with their rights.
Contract enforcement is the most demanding, time-consuming, and expensive task that the Union performs for you. Without enforcement, a contract is worthless. We must maintain constant vigilance, especially in this climate of financial duress, to ensure that our hard-won gains are not eroded by management any further than they already have been. Your union prides itself on having built a strong grievance process which operates democratically for all of our Members.
The Grievance Committee shall consist of all the members of the Component Executive. (Or their designated Local Vice-Presidents). The committee is chaired by the president of the component. The CUPE Representatives assigned to the Grievance Committee shall be a non-voting member of the Committee and shall be consulted at all stages of the process.
The functions of this Committee are as follows: Locals will use a Grievance Grid to list their Grievances with a brief outlook. The Component and each Local President will provide updated Grievance information with their Component Executive report; All charges against Members or Officers must be made in writing and dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the CUPE Constitution; Prepare a report on the Status of all Grievances to be submitted to the Executive Board, the National Representative, and to the Membership Meeting; All Grievances denied by the Employer must be forwarded to the Component Executive who will determine, by way of vote, whether such Grievances merit advancement to Arbitration or Mediation; The manner in which Grievances proceed to Arbitration or Mediation will be decided and approved upon by the Component Executive; Any decision by the Union to withdraw a Grievance may be appealed by the griever by to the Component Executive within ten 10 days of receiving such a decision.