The Checkpoint (Volume 1, Issue 6)

Major Health and Safety Wins For Local Lodge 2921 Members!

Joint Health and safety committees play an important role in workplaces and local lodges. Just as stewards and chief stewards police the collective agreement, health and safety reps enforce occupational health and safety laws ensuring everyone’s safety is protected. At the last joint health and safety meeting, local lodge health and safety representatives were unrelenting in pushing issues of importance to local lodge 2921 members. 

On Friday Aug.21,2020, as part of regular joint meetings with the company, your health and safety reps successfully resolved three major issues. For instance, the issue of cockroaches in one of the lunchrooms was addressed with immediate follow-up from the company. Later that day, one of the health and safety reps met with the exterminator for an onsite visit to the lunchroom that was identified in the meeting for an assessment for the fumigation. Union reps also advised management of the need to open more rooms for screeners to use as lunch rooms, and the union has provided evidence of overcapacity. Management has committed to using that information to communicate with the GTAA to gain access to other rooms. 

Last, but not least, the committee was given a report by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board on workplace injuries. There is a known issue in the recon room given lack of staffing, leaving those who are working susceptible to preventable injuries. Local lodge health and safety reps raised the problem of inadequate staffing during peak hours, despite the company being paid to place two screening officers during designated peak hours. While the union will remain vigilant, the company understood the problem and committed to ensuring screening officers are placed in key positions during busy hours. If that is not the case at your checkpoint, please keep documentation and speak with a health and safety rep, or your shop steward. 

We congratulate the health and safety committee for their hard work and persistence; Harjinder Dhamnait (Chair on the union side), Iwona Prabucki, Mandeep Rai, Kuldip Bal, Hermine Prendergast, Marcia Christopher, Surekha Karwal, Mustafa Ghafoor. 

                     “ Safety is a full time job, don’t make it a part-time practice!”

The Women’s and Human Rights Committee Launching A Survey and Fundraiser

The Women’s and Human Rights Committee is hard at work once again and has set an impressive and ambitious agenda! In their commitment to make the workplace better for everyone, the committee began working on a membership survey of harassment in the workplace. The survey is set to be launched in the next couple of weeks, and we encourage all members to complete the brief survey to help us gather information to make improvements in your workplace. 

Committee members are also hard at work organizing a fundraiser for September 26, 2020 where screeners, their families and friends will be invited to attend an outdoor event. Funds from the fundraiser will be donated to the IAM’s efforts to prepare food hampers for members who may be experiencing hard times. More details about the event will be shared next week, but please, mark your calendars and join us. 

Given the committee’s work on workplace violence and harassment, they were part of a training session on human rights and anti-harassment, with more training dates scheduled. 

We are also happy to announce that the committee has grown to 13 members, with coverage in all terminals. It’s a dynamic and diverse group of stewards, negotiation committee members, health and safety representatives, WSIB reps and human rights leads. This means that the committee is equipped to deal with your questions, concerns and problems regarding human rights, discrimination accommodation, WSIB, workplace violence, maternity leave and return to work. 

The following sit on the committee; Ayan Abdulle, Zahra Jama, Neelam Bhardwaj, Shahin Sarabi, Bouchra Amachi, Surjit Singh, Kuldip Bal, Justin Allen, Mandeep Chohan, Surekha Karwal, Yanique McInnis, Lissa Nevins, Loveleen, Pearlette Clarke, Justine Olmstead. 

Terminal 3 Stewards Meeting 

Your Shop steward team in terminal three held it’s monthly steward meeting. The Committee met and reviewed issues in the workplace and talked about upcoming issues and train- ing. “We have a great team here in Terminal 3. My team is dedicated and works hard” said chief Shop Steward Glen Re- my. The steward team is looking forward to the upcoming training that is scheduled for September. If you need any assistance please feel free to contact your Chief Steward or any Shop Steward. 

Contests 

These weeks questions will require some research and they are as follows: 

1. What year was the IAM founded?
2. When were women allowed to vote in Canada?

Email your answers to trustee@screeners.iamaw.ca