Second contract a winner at L3 in Trenton

Trenton, ON – The 51 members of Local Lodge 717T have ratified their second collective agreement with L3 Technologies MASS, a subsidiary of L3 Harris Technologies Inc. The members gained wages and benefits across the board, mostly because of the dedicated work of the Negotiating Committee.

“The contract was possible because of the hard work and dedication of the Negotiating Committee. Mark Manning, Dwayne Swartz and Ryan Buckley were key in the tentative contract and I want to thank each of them for their work,” said Jim Snider, District 78 Business Representative. “This was a long process that started in late September 2019. COVID-19 put a temporary hold on negotiations, but we resumed in April and concluded in July.”

Highlights of the contract are:

• 2.0% wage increase new premiums for AME classification – Aircraft Maintenance Engineer
• statutory holiday pay increase from 8 hours per statutory holiday to 11.4 hours (actual hours worked) for each statutory holiday (10 days). (an increase 34 hours annually). This was a 1.6% increase
• pension increase in each of the 3 years
• increased vacation time
• daily overtime from weekly (40-hour averaging). Now if you come in early or work past your shift you get overtime. Days off will be paid at overtime
• safety boot allowance increases
• all health benefits are now clearly defined in the collective agreement with a basic benefit plan option where $1200 per year will be put in an RRSP for those members who have benefits with their spouses/partners
• Total monetary improvements in the first year ranged from 3.25% to 4.4%.

The contract contains re-openers for wages, pension increases, premiums and benefits. There were many language changes that now better represents the operations in Trenton.

Although the members have line maintenance duties similar to those by other LAT’s at various airlines across the country, there is one subtle difference. Being under contract to the Department of National Defence, our members fly with the aircraft wherever it goes. Three of the aircraft are configured for full cargo or full passenger service including the Prime Minister’s VIP aircraft, the remaining two aircraft have been modified as Multi-Role Tanker Transports or aerial refueling tankers.

The 51 members are responsible for the repair and maintenance of the five CC-150 Polaris Air Transport Aircraft belonging to 437 Squadron, #8 Air Transport Wing based at CFB Trenton. They were originally IAM members but transferred to AVEOS when Polaris purchased Air Canada’s Heavy Maintenance Component in 2011. Two years after L3 MAS purchased the operations, the members re-joined the IAM in 2014.

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For more information:
Jim Snider, Business Representative, IAM District 78
jsnider@iamdl78.org