TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE IAMAW
AIR CANADA / TMOS
General Holidays
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
You will find on the following pages a decision issued by arbitrator Martin Teplitsky on November 26 concerning the value and the distribution method of the week of General Holidays.
Should you have any questions concerning this decision, do not hesitate to contact me.
In solidarity,
Boyd Richardson
General Chairperson, Central Region
BULLETIN NO. 116
ISSUED NOVEMBER 28, 2012
PLEASE COPY, POST AND CIRCULATE
Download Bulletin & Decision (4-pages)
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Decision is below:
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
BETWEEN:
AIR CANADA
– and-
IAMAW
MARTIN TEPLITSKY, Q.C.
Arbitrator
APPEARANCES:
On behalf of Air Canada: John Beveridge
On behalf of the lAMAW: Boyd Richardson
Hearing held November 09, 2012 and November 19, 2012.
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The parties appeared before me on November 09 and November19, 2012 regarding the interpretation of a new provision in the Collective Agreement. The Agreement provides the following;
TMOS employees (with exception of Technical Services, Logistics and Supply and GSE) who have ten (10) or more years of service will receive one week of additional paid time off in the form of General Holidays.
General Holidays shall be bid separately from Vacation bidding.
Fifty(50) percent of the General Holiday liability will be distributed evenly every week throughout the calendar year with the remaining General Holiday liability being planned at the discretion of the Company based on operational requirements.
The General Holiday entitlement will be as per the appropriate vacation guide chart.
In dispute was (a) the value of the one week and (b) the distribution method when the liability is not a multiple of 52.
(a) While the contract language drafted by the parties indicates that the applicable vacation guide chart should be referred to when determining the number of days you would be entitled to on a particular shift rotation, I find that it is inconsistent with the agreement to provide “one week of additional paid time off’. By strictly following the vacation guide charts and depending on what shift rotation your on it could be an advantage to some and a disadvantage to others. A normal work day is eight (8) hours and a normal work week is forty (40) hours and therefore “one week of additional paid time off is forty (40) hours for all employees for the purpose of GHO. The employer will do a reconciliation at the end of each year and if employees on a 4X4 shift have taken more than 40 hours of paid time the employer will recover the overpayment from the employees next pay and if employees on a 4X3 shift have not used all the 40 hours then the employer shall payout the remaining credits to the employee on their next pay.
(b) Fifty percent of the General Holiday liability is to be distributed evenly every week throughout the calendar year with the other 50% at the Employers discretion. As long as the liability is a multiple of 52 there are no issues but when the liability is something different you can not distribute the available slots evenly every week throughout the calendar year. As a solution, the employer proposed that the 50% liability that is intended to be spread out would be made available for selection as follows:
i. Beginning with the first full week in July slots are made available each week prior to and post the first full week. The distribution shall start with the July 1 week and then with the week prior, followed by the week post July 1.
ii. Slots will be evenly distributed on both sides of the first full in July, alternating as above, until all the liability has been satisfied. Once the liability has been satisfied no further slots are required.
Example – if a station had a liability of 26 weeks, thirteen individual weeks would be made available from July 01 going forward and 13 individual weeks would be made available going backwards from July 01.
I believe this is to be a fair and equitable approach proposed by the employer and I award that this distribution method be applied. Finally, I was asked to determine the value of the forfeiture of the three (3) General Holidays should a station withdraw from the shift scheduling MOA. In the event a station withdraws from the MOA employees shall forfeit twenty-four (24) hours of their forty (40) hours of paid General Holiday’s in addition to their shift premiums as outlined in the MOA.
I remain seized in the event there are any difficulties in administering this award. DATED the 26TH day of November, 2012.
MARTIN TEPLITSKY, Q.C.
Arbitrator
