May 27, 2021
Member Weekly Update – Edition #19
Please find the latest edition of weekly updates to the membership about ongoing Union business.
The CATCA Executive Board (EB) continues to pursue the issues of fatigue, burn out and the mental anguish caused by NAV Canada’s decisions. It is important to recognize that Members who have been served with surplus letters have dealt with insurmountable amounts of stress and pressure caused by the Company. The EB has and will continue to support and encourage members who feel they can no longer exercise their license safely not to do so. Some Members have requested administrative leave to help mitigate the impacts on their health and mental wellbeing as they realize the adverse effects. The Company continues to respond in a manner that is alarming to this Union. Although NAV Canada advised the Union months ago that they would deal with such anguish on a case-by-case basis but so far most requests, with few exceptions, have been denied without any further inquiries into the urgent concerns raised by the employee. We feel these decisions are arbitrary and potentially dangerous. Once again, we argue that NAV Canada is putting finance ahead of safety and our members’ mental health.
Understaffed units, sick calls not being replaced, and denial of breaks have led the membership to work longer hours with less rest. It is this Union’s opinion that these situations have certainly caused the degradation of levels of service and will continue to impact the safety of air navigation services. CATCA Executives have requested that NAV Canada reconsider their actions and consider the implications they will have concerning aviation and public safety.
We continue to encourage Members of the importance of reporting safety issues or hazardous situations by utilizing the Reporting Tool. In addition, we have previously provided information about two additional platforms for reporting safety violations should members feel the situation warrants it: Sentinel and SECURITAS. Information on how to submit a Sentinel report can be found here. Information on how to submit a report to SECURITAS can be found here.
Applications for the CATCA W. Christopher Lilwall & Eric Paraskevopoulos Memorial Scholarship are being accepted. Complete submissions must be received by mail (email will not be accepted) on or before Tuesday, August 31, 2021. For more information, please refer to the B&F and application form.
CATCA understands how difficult the situation is for many of our members. Should you require assistance, your RVP and Branch Chairs are available to you. EAP services are always accessible to provide support; click here or here.
On Behalf of the Executive Board;
Doug Best Scott Loder
President Executive Vice President
Click here for the PDF.