In order to reduce the amount of exposure between Operators and the public the City of Edmonton in discussions with your Union have agreed to implement temporary changes until conditions return to normal.
Our Union understands the unique situation we’re in and we are working with the City every hour to reduce the amount of service while we’re going through these trying times. The City is working on developing a new signup to be implemented shortly that will allow for shifts to have 2 regular off days, 3 days of Saturday work and 2 days of Stand-By with pay. The Stand-By will be confined to your normal hours of work as closely as possible.
There will be no loss of wages or benefits as these are protected by our Agreement.
There are 2 phases to this program as it takes time to create a new signup to accommodate only Saturday work and working 3 planned days instead of 5.
Phase 1 Temporary Fill (March 17th and approximately 1 week longer):
- All shifts from current Sign Up are on Hold
- Dispatchers will assign work manually during this emergent time
- All Off-days will stay the same
- Division will remain the same
- Hours or work will stay as close as possible
- Operators will work 3 days (Sat work) with 2 days at home on Stand-by
- No loss of pay, you get what your shift pays whether you drive 3 days or 5 days (if needed on stand by days). Overtime pay if worked.
- You may be called in if required on your Stand-By days
Phase 2 New Mini Signup:
- Once new mini signup is created it will be posted at the divisions and signup will be similar to current signups but with larger groups (15, not 10) to speed up the process. There will be multiple Union Reps present to assist in this accelerated pace.
- Once the need for reduced service is past, we’ll revert back to our current Signup.
- You may be called in if required on your Stand-By days
We understand how difficult this whole situation is but we feel that the reduced service works to protect our members better while not affecting your wages. This plan will reduce Operator-exposure and help Operators who have intensified family responsibilities related to school closures
If you have any questions or experience problems, please let us know. Thank you for your patience and cooperation, particularly with Dispatchers who are themselves overloaded. Everyone is working hard to deal with this and many other situations at the same time. If we all do our parts, we all get by this with our families protected.
In Solidarity,
Steve, Daryll, Damir, Jennifer and the entire Executive Team