TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT 140
TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT 140 DISTRICT DES TRANSPORTS 140
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Your Union has been approached by the company to advise of a drastic shortage of “D” AVOP licensed staff in the tow department.
This has not come as a surprise to the Union, as this issue has been re-occurring and is yet to be addressed through negotiations with the company. As a result of this unprecedented time, the company advised us that they are forced to seek assistance from a third party on a temporary basis.
The Union has expressed their absolute discontentment with the idea of third party assistance. We have made our values clear and our point concise: Our members’ work belongs to our members!
The Union has been down this road before on numerous occasions in the past, specifically with the company finding themselves short staffed in the tow department, and also having prior arbitration awards that stem from this very problem. However, we have finally been able to secure a commitment from the company to come forward to the bargaining table and negotiate a long term solution to this cyclical issue.
The company advised that they are, and have been, working feverishly to maximize their training capacity in order to allow our members an opportunity to become tow qualified.
The Union stressed the importance of strategizing to ensure maximum training output, which we believe is a factor in the shortage. The Union has proposed mitigation strategies to the company that we believe will aid in remedying the lack of manpower in the department. We have been ensured that our mitigation strategies will be prioritized and implemented, prior to utilizing third party assistance.
Some of the mitigation strategies that were agreed to include ensuring that our member training is maximized, and also offering double (2X) overtime pay for all tow department staff, throughout the time period that the third party assistance is being utilized.
The company is aware that the Union is not, and never will be, in agreement of subcontracting our membership’s work. The company has vowed to continue to take all available measures to cover towing requirements with our own internal resources, and to use our own staff and mitigation options prior to utilizing third party handling.
At this time, the company has advised the Union that the estimated date they may require third party assistance may commence as early as June 10th, 2022, with an estimated closing date of the end of July 2022.
We will continue dialogue with the company and advise the membership as new information unfolds. Should the company not keep to their commitments, the Union will remain open to challenging the company through the grievance and arbitration procedure.
In solidarity,
Mahmoud Khatib General Chairperson Central Region
