ATU 583 Retirement Banquet 2022
Our Banquet occurred October 1, 2022 at the Grey Eagle Resort and Casino. We had over 700 guests in attendance including retirees, representatives of Local 583 and delegates from a variety of affiliates & the City of Calgary.
We have had fantastic feedback from attendees and our dignitaries and are pleased to say the event was a success!
It is our privilege to honour our retirees each year and we are so glad we could celebrate in person with all of you. We’re already looking forward to the next one!
Updating Your Address
This is a regular ask of ours and now is a great time to give us a call to update if you have moved recently.
If we do not have your correct address, you will not receive your ballots for the upcoming election. If you do not receive your ballots the first time we mail them out, you will have to come in and vote on voting day. We are unable to reissue ballots that have already left this office, for any reason. This is to maintain the integrity of the election.
As a polite reminder: ‘Article 105 – Members’ of our Local Bylaws states “Any member changing his/her address must notify their Local Union Office immediately.” We greatly appreciate our Members complying with this Bylaw.
It is worth noting that if you have updated with the City, they do not provide that information to us on an individual basis.
You are encouraged to give us a call at the office at 403-258-1258 Ext 0 to update this information in our system.
Membership Discounts on Insurance
At the end of 2021 the Executive Board decided to discontinue our Boom Group membership as participation in the program was quite low (around 8-10% of total cards we sent out were activated).
Since then, our Financial Secretary Treasurer, Harry Lew, has been researching new programs we may take part in that will offer discounts to unionized members.
In the meantime, we have had Members call to inquire about insurance discounts they are being offered if they can provide information proving Union Membership. We are pleased to remind our Members that if you need a letter stating your membership is in good standing so you can take advantage of this type of discount we are only too happy to provide one for you. The simplest way to obtain such a letter is to call or email our admin at 403-258-1258 Ext 6 or jacinda@atu583.com. We can then email a signed letter to you for your purposes.
We will continue to look into long term discount plans that best serve our membership.
ATU International Convention 2022 – Las Vegas
As per the Amalgamated Transit Union Constitution and General Laws, our delegation attended the tri-annual International Convention. This time it was held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The purpose of this convention is to elect International Officers and to update the Constitution and General Laws.
We are happy to report on two changes in particular. The first is regarding funeral benefits. They have been increased to $2,000 (previously funeral benefits were $1,000). Secondly, Strike Pay has been increased to $400/week and begins on day one of a legal work stoppage. Both of these updates to the Constitution will have far reaching effects on Members. Funerals are increasingly expensive and this change was much needed. Taking some of the burden off Member’s families when they lose a loved one is deeply important. The Strike Pay change is equally, if not more, important. The decision to legally strike is a very difficult one and Members do take loss of wages into consideration when the vote occurs. This raise in weekly Strike Pay will ensure more peace of mind for ATU Members across Canada and the USA whose Locals need to strike for whatever reason.
One last change we want to touch on is an increase in International Officer wages. Unions must lead by example and cost of living has increased for us all. While this change was not top of the list for the ATU 583 delegation we do acknowledge that it was a necessary increase.
Our last note on the convention is a fantastic one. ATU has managed to achieve what labour bodies such as the Canadian Labour Congress and the American Federation of Labour have done. We have “smashed the glass ceiling” so to speak, and elected our first female International Executive Vice President, Yvette Trujillo. Yvette has been a friend to Local 583 for two decades and we could not be prouder to have stood behind her campaign for IEVP. Of course, a woman IEVP has been a long time coming and we know Yvette is the perfect person to fill this spot.
ATU Local 583 Scholarship
Our ATU Local 583 Scholarship Committee has awarded the 2022 scholarships to the following winners:
Scholarship Awardee Yuvraj Agnihotri
ATU 583 Relation Sanjeev Agnihotri
Scholarship Awardee Melab Biemnet
ATU 583 Relation Eyob Biemnet
Scholarship Awardee Jennifer Denig
ATU 583 Relation Patrick Denig
Scholarship Awardee Damian Huskic
ATU 583 Relation Abid Huskic
Scholarship Awardee Chaten Jessel
ATU 583 Relation Rajinder Jessel
Scholarship Awardee Ryan Johnston
ATU 583 RelationDaniel Johnston
Scholarship Awardee Priyanka Khatri
ATU 583 Relation Ravinder Khatri
Scholarship Awardee Cienna Kinghorn
ATU 583 Relation Corey Kinghorn
Scholarship Awardee Cristina Pretelt
ATU 583 Relation Rodrigo Pretelt
Scholarship Awardee Amtul Saddiqa
ATU 583 Relation Imtiaz Ahmad
Scholarship Awardee Janelle Waugh
ATU 583 Relation Douglas Waugh
A big congratulations to each awardee! We are confident each of them will do amazing things.
Negotiations Update
We are back in negotiations and things are moving at a fairly good pace. We are starting to deal with some of the more contentious issues. At this point the City seems to be listening and understanding our position. We haven’t signed off on a lot of these more contentious issues but we are more optimistic than we have been up to this point. We have 6 meetings between now and the end of November and are looking to add as many days as we can before the end of the year.
One of the most common questions still remains “if I retire, do I still get my vacation match?” and as previously stated, that benefit will remain in place in its current form until such time as we reach a Collective Agreement or are able to negotiate something similar to it. If it looks like it’s going to end, we will provide enough notice for you to access that benefit if you choose to.
As many of you are aware some of the Civic Unions have already signed an agreement which included retroactive pay. Local 583 has a number of critical issues that we are addressing that are specific to our Collective Agreement and therefore it’s taking more time. We will not bring back a recommendation to accept a memorandum that doesn’t include back pay. This will ensure that we do not lose ground on any of the wages in collective bargaining.
MEBAC Calgary
The Municipal Employee’s Benefits Association of Calgary negotiates your benefits through collective bargaining with the City of Calgary. That collective bargaining process will be opening up at the end of this year. Please watch for additional information that will allow you to bring forward suggestions that you would like to see changed or enhanced, to the Association’s bargaining committee for discussion. You are also welcome to send any of those suggestions directly to jacinda@atu583.com.
If there are any items of interest to you that you’d like to see covered in the Monthly Insights please email jacinda@atu583.com and we will look into your topic in an upcoming issue.
COPE 397 /jw
