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Benefits for BTS Ontario Employees

 

 

Are you part of the large percentage of BTS employees that received an upgrade from RPT to RFT  from Ratification? Or have you had a life altering situation and need to change your information…Please enroll if you have not done so as this is mandatory

Ensure you have reviewed the links below in regards to your benefit entitlements or changes

 

F54-931A-1 E-services page par page

ESP Program Discription

Employee savings plan- Enrolment-Change

EDP_Affiliates_with Pride Rebate_EN_Sept_2013_Final

Class 6 – Permanent , Unionized Workers

Class 6 – Permanent , Unionized Workers (RRSP Enrollment Instructions)

 

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BTS Locals in Ontario – Regarding Consecutive Days of Rest Letter

 

 

To: All BTS Locals in Ontario
May 28, 2018
Brothers and Sisters,
As we enter into our 4th week under the new Collective Agreement, we as a committee felt it important that we bring you up to speed on where things are between the Union and your employer, BTS.
There have been many rumours going around regarding the signing of the Collective Agreement, and as to the reason it is not yet been done. To this point we can say, we have completed a review of the new agreement, identified errors and changes that were made by the Company have now been corrected. We are reviewing the revised copy as final proofing to be signed in the coming weeks. Once signed electronic copies will be made available, while we wait for printed copies.
Having said that, the Union and the Company are currently in dispute on one issue regarding the new Collective Agreement and its implementation. The issue is non-consecutive days of rest for fulltime employees, better known as “island days”. The Union negotiated in our view that days of rests for fulltime employees must be consecutive to another. The employer has communicated to the Union that it was not their intent to always give consecutive days off to fulltime employees. They said they have realized it is too difficult for them to do and they never would have agreed to it, followed by a host of what we determined to be threats regarding the scheduling of the membership. The Committee has escalated this dispute to the National Union and a National Policy Grievance has been filed.
The Company says they are trying to change the relationship with their employees, but continue to demonstrate the same lack of desire to change the way they run the business that we have experienced under the previous Collective Agreement. They appear to continue to look for work arounds to language and cast the blame on clerical bargaining unit members for “errors” that get made related to the never-ending schedule issues………………………..

Click here to read the full letter

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Ramadan Mubarak

 

On behalf of the Local 1996-O Executive, we wish all our Muslim Sisters and Brothers a blessed Ramadan.

 

In Solidarity,

 

Lee, Brian, Chris

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U.S. auto tariff investigation

Presidents_message

Sisters and Brothers,

As many of you have heard, the Trump administration has called for the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate tariffs or other trade penalties on car and auto-part imports based on Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act, a trade provision that allows duties on imports that threaten national security.

It’s clear that Canada’s auto sector is not a threat to America’s security but what remains unclear is the motivation or the actual target of any potential tariffs. It is possible that this is yet another NAFTA bargaining tactic to pressure Canada and Mexico into signing a quick deal. It is also possible that Trump is using Section 232 as a political tool to deliver one of his so-called ‘wins’ in the absence of a new NAFTA prior to the U.S. midterm elections.

The announcement came as a complete surprise, catching international governments, auto manufacturers and the markets off guard. Unifor is in the process of ascertaining possible ramifications of this action.

Unifor has previously proposed a major rethink on North American auto tariffs, which are far weaker than other auto-producing regions around the world.  Rebalancing trade between North America and the world can help manage the disproportionate rise in car imports and the migration of good paying jobs to ever-cheaper labour markets. These are serious issues that need serious thought. Unfortunately, the shotgun approach Trump has taken under Section 232 could cause chaos in the sector and inflict severe collateral damage to both Canadian and American auto workers.

Under Section 232 the U.S. Department of Commerce has approximately 9 months to report its findings to the President who then has 3 months to determine what action, if any, will be taken. This is the same process used to impose steel and aluminum tariffs, which Canada is exempt from until next week’s scheduled expiry date of June 1, 2018.

In addition to the threat of tariffs on steel, aluminum and now potentially auto and auto parts the U.S. has aggressively come after Canada’s softwood lumber and paper industries. The U.S. had also attempted to slap punishing tariffs on aerospace exports. In NAFTA, the U.S. is also demanding greater market access to Canada’s dairy and poultry industries.

Unifor has called on the federal government to take a firm stand against the threat of all unjust tariffs and has made it clear that our union will vigorously oppose any attack on Canadian jobs and workers.

For information on this and other trade-related matters, please be sure to visit unifor.org/NAFTA

 

 

In Solidarity,

Jerry Dias, Unifor national president