DRAFT TWO

MAINTENANCE CRAFT LMOU UPDATE

The Maintenance Craft has just completed negotiating some new language for our Local Memorandum Of Understanding. As with any negotiating session of this type the outcome usually provides some new advantages and some concessions as well. With this in mind, I will give you an outline of the process and the final results. Last November we posted a notice requesting suggestions and ideas of what the craft members would like to see changed and what they would like to remain the same. We receive a great response and we discussed and arbitrated every idea as to the pros and cons of each. It was these ideas that led us in the direction that we felt the membership wanted us to go. We sincerely welcomed all of your input and we appreciate the solidarity and genuine professionalism in which all of the proposals were submitted and addressed. We have a great group of members. The negotiations started off with both sides freely exchanging proposals. We also submitted brief explanations with our requests, so management would know where we were coming from and why we wanted the changes. Negotiations started off very professionally and both sides retired early to go over each others proposals. The procedures progressed over the next four weeks, sometime erratically, with both sides oscillating closer and then further apart on many issues. But in the end we agreed to a lot of new language in the way we use our annual leave, volunteer for holidays and sign up for overtime. I firmly believe that we are much better off as a craft with the new negotiated language than we were with the old and I’m sure that you will agree. Recalling what I said before about advantages and concessions, I will briefly outline some of the new changes:

The choice vacation period has been shortened and the percentage off has been increased to 17%. The Non-Choice now includes the month of December and the minimum percentage has been increase to 13%. We have removed the ‘first five days’ language during the Choice period and have added three new periods for us to select leave in advance. We will no longer have to be asked to work on a holiday, but management can no longer force us to work during the holiday period in order to give somebody annual leave. Request for leave have to be submitted 44 hours in advance but we now have language that management must return the slips to us within 44 hours, so long as we submit them in duplicate. We will now have three separate preferences for overtime, before tour, after tour and NS days. This should help members who are committed to day care responsibilities or have other reasons for not being able to come in early or stay late. We combined two of the smaller sections, which should allow multiple employees on a single tour to get a bid vacation, and seniority will play more of a roll. Seniority for preferred assignment will be used for everything and we clarified the ‘on-board’ language to read ‘actual number of authorized positions’.

This is just a brief explanation of the changes that have been incorporated. Please request to see your union steward for clarification of the details in the new language. For any member that wants a copy, our L.M.O.U. will be made available as soon as possible in the union office. Again, thanks for your input and your support. Keep in mind that we will be negotiating another contract in less than two years. We have established a file in the union office for more ideas, suggestions and opinions that we will use the next time, so keep the free exchange of ideas flowing. I look forward to discussing the changes with you.

Yours in Union Solidarity,

Rick Blair