Brothers and Sisters,
Company A&L Policy
The Company on February 12th posted a new A&L policy that will take effect on February 15th. To be clear this change to the A&L policy was not a joint decision between the Union and the Company. The Company made the changes to their A&L policy based on the legislative changes in Ontario. To be specific Bill 47 was introduced by the Doug Ford Conservative government and repealed many of the gains made for and by workers under Bill 148. . This A&L policy change is in direct correlation to the repeal of the 7 PEL days that employees in the auto industry were allotted under Bill 148.
Inventory
The repair area in chassis continues to work full out to reduce the inventory we have on site. On top of the regular challenges that our members working in and around the repair areas deal with on a daily basis the addition of the extreme cold weather and the amount of accumulated snow has only added to the challenge. The complexity of our build has led to much of the inventory. Currently there are changes being implemented into the build process that should help those jobs that need it most. Through ongoing discussions we have been given commitment for additional jobs in the chassis area. These jobs in most cases will be dealing with the diesel build and electrical connections. The jobs that are created will be posted as outlined in exhibit B of our Local Agreement.
Increase in Conducts
In recent weeks there has been an increase in conduct reports submitted on our members. We have been successful in arguing that many of the conducts should have been dealt with through the 10 step procedure. The 10 step procedure is laid out in exhibit B of our local agreement. The 10 step procedure is to be used as an investigative tool to stop premature discipline and address job related issues. If while preforming your job you are not able to complete all elements, the established process is to turn on your yellow Andon light to notify your supervisor or leader. This will help bring attention to any issues you may have and eliminate the conducts submitted for missed elements of work.
Vacation Scheduling
On February 1st the company announced a one week vacation shutdown for pp28. With only a one week shutdown that leaves more hours for our members to schedule their preferred vacation. The vacation forms for the remainder of the year have been or should have been handed out in all zones. To give yourself the best opportunity to get the vacation week or weeks that you prefer please ensure that you hand the form in by the date indicated.
Chassis Department Cleanliness
Since Kyle Cruji has returned to the final area we have been having discussions on a regular basis. Part of our discussions have been around the lack of regular housekeeping and the lack of investment in our members work areas. Through these discussions there has been a commitment made to ensure that zones and work areas will be provided with the resources needed to keep their areas clean. There will be on going investment throughout the department to have areas painted, cleaned and maintained as required. These areas also include our work group areas. We also visited a couple of areas insourcing and north end of chassis to try and find the most ideal locations to add a couple more team areas.
Marc Brennan
UNIFOR Local 707
Chassis Committeeperson
Ext. 3335
1(289)681-7654
