ATU Local 583 Election Date 2022

Thursday December 8th, 2022 is our official election date. As you are reading this, ballots are in the mail!

Voting instructions are enclosed with your ballots and election material.

As discussed in last month’s newsletter, if you do not receive your ballots via mail or do not get them into the mail in time, you can come in to the Union Office and vote from 5 AM to 4 PM on election day.

Ballots will be counted December 8th, 2022 and election results posted on December 9th, 2022.

ATU 583 Campaign Protocols

As in past election years, Management has asked that all Candidates be mindful of the environment they are campaigning in to ensure as little disruption in the workplace as possible.

If you are going into the shop or office areas, please consult with the area Supervisor upon arrival. If you are in the canteen areas, please keep an appropriate distance from the dispatch windows so as not to interfere with the assignment of work or buses. If in the Shop areas please respect the safe areas and wear the appropriate PPE for the area you are in.

Campaign posters and literature must be kept to the locations provided on the “A” frames or adjacent to the ATU LOCAL 583 Bulletin Boards.

**Please note the Bulletin Boards must be free from Campaign material so Official ATU LOCAL 583 bulletins can be clearly seen and not obstructed in any way. **

Your assistance in this matter is appreciated.

Indigenous Veteran’s Day & Remembrance Day

November 8th and November 11th respectively are two dates we mark in Canada for those who have served and fought for our rights and freedoms.

We are grateful for each and every person who has served our country. Their sacrifice is nothing short of heroic and their memories deserve the honour these days signify.
Lest We Forget

Children’s Christmas Party

A reminder that our Children’s Christmas Party will take place Sunday December 4, 2022 starting at 10:00 AM at the Red and White Club (north end of McMahon Stadium).

Members are kindly reminded as well that it is best to pre-register your children (aged 12 and under) for gifts. You can do so by accessing our form, available here: https://www.atu583.com/childrens-christmas-gift-form/

You are also able to call 403-258-1258 Ext 0 and an admin can assist you in signing up. Please have all pertinent information ready when you call.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Retiree and LTD Dues – Interac and E-Transfer

We are pleased to announce that we can now officially accept E-Transfers and Debit/Credit (via Interac) for dues & insurance payments.

This means if you’d like to pay without coming into the office you can use E-Transfer by sending your dues and/or insurance amount to payments@atu583.com. Please include your full name and whether the payment is for dues or insurance (or both) in the note section of the E-Transfer.

If you’d like to pay by credit or debit, we have an Interac machine in the office that Members can now utilize.

This has been one of the biggest asks from Members, our Retirees specifically and we are very happy that our FST Harry Lew was able to get this implemented via the ATU International.

If you have any questions regarding this new process, please do not hesitate to call us at the office to chat about it.

Verifying Information and the Rumor Mill

One of the things we recommend the most to our Members is verifying information you may be hearing in the workplace.

Discussions on a variety of topics are always going to occur. Members will chat with each other about any number of things from current contracts to working conditions and more. What we would like to see is, if information feels wrong or even malicious, to call, text or email an Officer for a follow up. We can verify or refute information that may be floating around the workplace. Often times rumors are not positive in nature and can cause anxiety or concern among Members and if we can help alleviate that, or explain in depth what the issue entails, that is always the best-case scenario. Even the most well-informed Member may not be as knowledgeable on a specific item as an Officer and that is just the nature of the job.

All contact information is available on Union postings boards and on our website under “Contacts/Contact Information”.

The Attendance Support Program

Speaking of information brought to us by Members for verification, we recently had details submitted to us that spoke of the Attendance Support Program possibly now requiring 6 acceptable sustained quarters to be removed from the Program.

We discussed this with CT management at our monthly meeting and found out that there has been no change to the Program in its current form. The process requires 2 consistent quarters of acceptable attendance and 4 quarters of that attendance being sustained. This has been the process since the ASP underwent a reorganization several years back.

The Attendance Support Program can be stressful and we are happy to have been able to verify information on it.

Request for Timepoint Shelter

Via our ATU Local 583 Telegram Group we had several inquiries about getting a shelter placed at FE (9th Ave SE by Fair’s Fair Bookstore) and FW (Fort Calgary). We discussed this with management at our monthly operations meeting and are pleased to report that management has let us know a shelter will be installed at the Westbound Stop #9821 9 Ave @ Fort Calgary by the week of November 7. Unfortunately, due to space constraints they are unable to place one at FE and they are looking into alternate options.

Code Blue Process Follow Up

We have been in discussion with CT management on how exactly CT is following up on Code Blues. We have reported in several newsletters on the process ATU 583 is directly involved in and also how we handle things out of this office. We heard back from a couple Members that they didn’t feel CT followed up with them appropriately and therefore they didn’t feel supported in what was a difficult experience. We do address each case where these concerns are brought to our attention.

We also make ourselves available to every member that wishes to prefer charges against an assailant. This includes attending court and advocating for stiffer penalties as a social deterrent.

Please contact us if we can be of any assistance.

Children’s Gift Pick Up

Dates gifts will be available to pick up in December:
December 5th to 7th – 9 AM to 3:30 PM
December 12th to 16th – 9 AM to 3:30 PM
December 19th to 22nd – 9 AM to 3:30 PM
December 23rd – until Noon

Dates gifts will be available to pick up in January:
January 2nd to January 6th – 9 AM to 3:30 PM

Pick up at the Local 583 Office: 2nd Floor at 5325 1A Street SW. Please use the side or back door to enter.

Please call 403-630-3998 at least 30 minutes prior to your arrival so we can have your gifts ready for you.

Double Blue Stage West Ticket Winners –
Retirement Banquet

If you won the Stage West Tickets from the Double Blue draw at our October retirement banquet, please get in touch with Margie at 403-235-5754.

COPE 397 /jw