What's Going On With WIP?

[DRAGOON_MYTH_SLAYER]

This just came in on the Dragoon newswire.

It has recently come to light that our Wage Indemnity Plan has been moved out from under the umbrella of the Airline Division and is now soley under the trusted and nonbiased jurisdiction of the AC Component auspice. Pam has given Stephen the 80+K patronage appointment job as administrator and Eddie on the Left Coast is about to receive a similar appointment ala Stephen. Perhaps WERKERBEE would care to grace us once again with his presence on the forum and verify or offer diclaimers.

Now, my sources tell me that at a recent nomination meeting in yvr, the truth about what happened began to emerge but it is still somewhat nebulous as to what actually has occured. Surely the membership would have been immediately informed if a major change had occured regarding our 7+million dollar WIP Plan. Has anyone seen the bulletin?

Apparently Eddie, who by the way is now running against Pat in the upcoming election, stated at the meeting that he, as a TRUSTEE to the plan, had NO PRIOR KNOWLEGDE of what Pam and Richard were planning to do with the plan. So the trustees weere not even made aware????!!!! :shocked: No wonder we are the last ones to know.

Terry was present at the meeting and, when asked when the move took place, he replied that it happened about a week and a half before he took office from Stephen who, did I already mention, is now the administrator of the plan.

Can you smell the rotting fish scent yet? There's more....

It would seem that this is the first step in the chosen ones' agenda of removing our membership from the Airline Division. If such a significant move was even about to occur, let alone that it already has, why wouldn't we, THE MEMBERSHIP, have been informed????? Granted, this happened before the election was closed....perhaps some of us would not have agreed with the move and the action may have cost votes...but we can't even be notified about it now?! :shocked:

The purpose of oversight undertaken by the airlines of the Airlne Division was so that non-biased parties that did not use or pay dues to the plan would maintain the blind trust of the plan. That non-biased oversight has now been erased...it's gone.

We need the strength that is found in the collective of the Airline Division. Now, with Terry in office, the mess left behind will be cleaned up. The Ailine Division website hadn't been updated in over a year and now they are communicating with us again. With Judy D'arcy gone, hopefully we will have stronger and more accessible leadership from the motherunion.

Leaving the Airline Division at this point does not seem to make sense; especially as we are facing a company that wants to rip up a contract before the ink has dried, 'cause "they didn't realize how bad thigs really were"lol :shocked:

Is what's happening more about personal power and gain or about what is inherently good for the membership. I leave that question with you and would heartily welcome any clarification as to what the H..E... double hockey sticks is going on!!!

[eva3]

Can't wait to see how much more we'll be paying.....each and every one of us.

[werkurb]

I guess you forgot to go and check your mailfolder, the information was posted on Monday the 24 of February. When you get your facts "straight" give me a shout and please don't beleive everything you hear for the Division President, as he is not fully aware of how things went down, or is, "butt" refuses to acknowledge all of the facts. If you need clarification please contact me like other members do, who have a backbone. Call me or e-mail me direct. I don't have time to address cowards.
Morash

[DRAGOON_MYTH_SLAYER]

It would appear you don't have time to address the membership either. What's the problem with keeping them informed in a timely fashion?

No, I haven't checked my mailfolder recently as I have not found it necessary to travel to the airport of late.

However, I did check the AC Component website and looked under the WIP heading to see if perhaps a bulletin had been issued. Surprise surprise...in the 8th paragragh down (nicely burried) is a short blurb of "oh, and by the way, we made a major decision to move WIP out of the AIrline Division". No mention of the "new" bulletin was made on the Home page and one would have to regularly check the other headings of WIP, EAP, etc. I suppose to find out that there was a change. No mention in the On The Fly page either.

So is this the way it's going to be...members must seek information from their leaders in order to stay informed. You were "acting" Airline Division President for how long? Did you ever update the Division Website?

And you have the gaul to imply that I'm the coward?! Yes, I am afraid, I'm very afraid of an administration that only sees fit to communicate important issues with the membership once they are safely ensconced in their elected positions to notify us of events that happened weeks prior. Furthermore, your bulletin is a little en retard don't you think?

Rest assured, I will continue to make my enquiries to whomever I see fit and an investigation of these events is sure to follow.

You don't have time to address cowards? Do you have time to address the membership? :confus_2:

[eva3]

Personally, I think we should now have the option of getting our own personal insurance and not contributing to WIP should we so choose. There are many "new" plans out there, dependant on what you feel YOUR needs are.

[flighty]

Well put DMS.

We always find out things that are done "for the good of the membership" but not usually with ease or openness.

Lets face some facts. After the last Division Conference, Morash lost the election as Div President, because he had signatures of FA's who were not signed up "carded" members. He then made the presidential determination that if the name of the person is in the union records in any way, then they must be deemed to be members. The employers supply lists of who works for the department, not who is or is not a member.

Unfortunately for Morash, his decision about his own position did not stand, as you have to sign a union card to be a member. You do not have to join the union, but you are still entitled to all mailouts, etc, because you still must pay dues (you take home the union negotiated wages and benefits). There has to be a signed card to consider someone a member.

When he was bounced off the ballot due to not having sufficient signatures, he lost. So now, before the new officers took over, while still chairing the Division Council, and at the same time being the Chairperson of the WIP Trust Board, someone introduced a motion to move the WIP trust away from the Division (where it has been for over 25 years) and bring it into Air Canada Component. Read here, away from the "new" Division Council that did not include Morash, and to the AC group, that contains close friends of P/R/C.

And guess how the tie vote was broken????? By the chairperson, (Morash) who then cast his only vote to break a tie in favor of moving the trust away from the independant and "arms length" relationship right into the AC mother ship. Unlike a business board of trust or directors, that has leaders from industry that do not work for that company on the board of directors, our "trust" has the same person on all the councils and sitting in all the chairs. But this move to the AC control was only done since he lost the election.

Remember, the only change over the entire period that Morash was Div Pres has been this major shift of who is responsible for the "TRUST" No new airlines have been added, deleted or have there been any major changes to the salary continuance relationship with the insurance company or within the collective agreements. Plain and simple "pork barreling" Lets see, can we build a new airport in your home town as well?

Sounds scuzzy, and it is not going to go away without protest and further legal investigation, including inviting the Income Tax people to examine that the new home is "at arms length"

With an administrator job and over $7m in reserve, this was a good catch for P/R/C, and will be a great parachute position for Morash. Can't be Pres, then make me an offer????

BTW...... It was Ken Hopper who sat in as the AC member of the Division Council when this decision was made (obviously propped up and advised by the officers) but this was while we were in the middle of an election for the position of CEX Pres, VP and SecTreas. and just before take over of the newly elected Div Pres. And exactly who made the motion to move it to AC, I wonder??

So they move it out of Dev before the new Div exec takes over (new Div Pres Terry Twentyman) using the baby sitter (Ken Hopper) to do the dirty work, while we are in the middle of an election that is run two months beyond the deadlines of the Division by-laws. And this was a rushed or emergency decision to be made before the new officers potentially took over because??????
Sounds and smells even more dirty.

Let me see if I get this? Pam and Richard are declared not elected, their election is ruled null and void. The nomination for Morash is ruled not complete so he is the lame duck Division President. They then get the baby sitter Administrator to vote on a monumental decision to move the Trust away from independant and distant non-officers of the union to the in-house AC CEX, and the person who chaired the meeting and broke the tie vote is the same one that sits as a senior officer while also a trust chair, (Morash)? And now only the AC CEX will control who will be on the trust, and what decisions will be made regarding contribution and benefits?

The Trust was legally set up to remove all the decisions of this self funded insurance out of the mainstream union to avoid the tax implications of cross-using premiums and dues to run the union. We would lose the non-taxable status of the plan, and members would have to pay income tax on any benefit received.

Further, a separate and independant Trust prevents cross interference with the running of the union and making decisions that could be tied to what the rest of the union is doing (like letting the CEX use the trust surpluses for strike funding or other projects) The Trust stops this. You have to convince someone who is not personally involved in the Plan to make changes.

And now, it is all in the hands of one or two people. HOLY COW, MAN

I have experience in dealing with the WIP trust. They appear to work for the insurance Co rather than for the members! Try filing an appeal, and guess who hears the appeal or advises the administrator or insurance company after assisting with preparing the appeal? The very same person that was doing everything else.

[werkurb]

I can"t understand why members would read such unfounded lies that are posted on this site. I have prepared an additional bulletin to be issued because of the clearly misinformed individuals who post on this site.

I did not run for President, I ran for Sec-Tre, a one day a month job - HOWEVER, under the new Division administration, it seems the Sec-Tre requires full time release. I did appeal. I lost the appeal and could have appeald it again, but decided not to.

Correction, we have not been with CUPE for 25 years, another fact not so factual.

The move is self explanatory and will be in mialfolders soon, just to correct all the wrong info out there.

You have zero knowledge how things went or you are simply telling lies about what the real truth is. The Chair of Division does break the tie, however in the above you claim that I broke the tie. NOT SO. There were 4 of 7 Division Council members in attendance, 2 voted in favor and 1 against, according to my minutes, hense no vote for the chair. If it was a requirement for me to break the tie I surely would have, as I beleive it is in the best interest of the membership.

Who decides who sits on the boar of trust. In accordance to ARTICLE 4.01 of the trust fund agreement, there will be 5 trustees, the executive of each component, that is those who participate in WIP, may each put forward the name of 2 persons to be a trustee. The Division Council may apponit such persons plus 1 other person. They call this one other person a member at large. For the record there is no memtion of the WIP plan in the Division by-laws.

Appointment of the Chairperson, ARTICLE 4.03, trust fund declaration, shall be done by the division council not the Division President.

Tax problems, nothing has changed, this is paid by flight attendants and under STD it has and will continue to TAX FREE BENEFIT. More lies to confuse the membership, something that is surley to be in your best intrest.

Again, as in the past, the trust fund is at arms length of all, division or component.

Please identify yourself to me, show some courage.You need not do it here, you can simply call or e-mail me, or you and your COWARD FRIEND can mislead the members and continue to try and break up this union and any work it tries to accomplish. I recognize that these attacks are not about WIP but just little old me. Not to worry, I can take the heat.
Stephen Morash :grin:

[dartagnan]

You know Stephen this forum was/is mostly used to influence/mislead people. There is a bunch of disgruntled people out there that are out to destroy our union (the only reason I am writting on this forum is to bring back balance). They dont like the people that were/are in place and they will do everything to undermine to good work being done by our union leaders. They say that our leaders are undemocratic, however they do not respect the fact that twice they were elected by the majority, that the collective agreement was ratified by the majority and that the Burkett award is a binding arbitration agreed upon by both sides... I wonder who is being undemocratic! Oh... By the way dont hold your breath you will never know who these people are. reminds me of the little weasels in grade school that use to yell to the crowd "Kick him, punch him, give him a wedgy", they were really quick to run after the fact and they would deny everything if cougth... Have a good day!