Bargaining
Labour Relations Board Common Employer Application Decision re: Avis and Budget
November 26, 2020
To: All MoveUP members at Avis
Your union would like to take this opportunity to update you on the latest information regarding MoveUP’s Common Employer Application at the BC Labour Relations Board. (BCLRB)
On November 17, the Labour Relations Board issued a further decision. The entire decision can be read here. This decision confirms that Avis and Budget are to be considered the same employer and that MoveUP is the union that will represent the workers at both brands going forward. Consequently, the Teamster certification has been cancelled. This was the result sought by MoveUP when the application to the Board was made back in March. We are of course happy with the result as it means that all Avis/Budget workers will work under the stronger collective agreement provisions as outlined in the MoveUP agreement.
MoveUP would like to thank our members who worked hard in the preparation and presentation of our successful application to the Board. The efforts of these members are much appreciated and will help to make the working lives better for all of our members.
Your union has already received calls from Budget workers and we have been working hard to open the lines of communications. Some answers are easy to provide while others can not be answered at this time.
The Board has asked your union to meet with Avis management and the Teamsters to facilitate an orderly handover by sharing any required information regarding such issues as seniority lists and outstanding grievances. Once this meeting is held the next step will be to convene a meeting between a committee made up from both Avis and Budget workers and discuss the integration process. Once this meeting is completed we can then meet with Avis management and negotiate an agreement that will lead to all of our members working at Avis/Budget being covered under the MoveUP agreement.
Your union has already started to receive questions about how seniority will be interpreted. The questions have been asked from both Avis and Budget workers. This is a common question when two groups with separate seniority lists are combined into one bargaining unit. Each situation has unique features when this type of situation occurs. MoveUP does have a policy guideline for these situations and it can be found here. Without question the goal will be to develop the fairest process for merging the seniority lists. The current pandemic adds an extra emphasis to the process as topics such as layoffs, postings, and recall are front and centre in our members’ minds. Please be assured that your union will be working hard to arrive at the best possible outcome.
Please make every effort to welcome our new members from Budget. In the long run we will all be much stronger as a larger and unified bargaining unit.
Please let us know if you have any further questions about this process or anything else.
In Solidarity,
Shawn Lakusta, Union Representative
Christy Slusarenko, Vice-President of Combined Units