Occurring over the last few weeks, the Company has shared multiple communications concerning the state of the carrier and their worsening financial position as a result of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The Company has also communicated in detail the measures taken with a majority of the employees worldwide.
The Company made a request of the Union to take an action that will help with the payroll issues associated with the decline in revenue and cost of keeping everyone employed. The Company asked specifically for a reduction of 2 hours daily for FT staff (10 hours weekly) and 1 hour daily for PT staff (5 hours weekly) to help defray payroll costs. The request was sent to the IAM Transportation leadership who approved the request based on the circumstances of the Company and it continuing to provide ongoing financial protections. There are programs in New York and around the country that will allow us to participate in an effort to reduce the Company’s payroll cost while maintaining everyone’s wage amounts at or as near to whole as possible. In NY State that program is called the “Shared Work Program”. In the coming days the Company will be enrolling the remaining IAM members in this program in which they have already enrolled in for non-Union staff as follows:
• A modification request will be submitted to the NY State Shared Work Program and the State may seek approval from the Union as part of the approval process. Upon approval, all NY employees will be enrolled in the program.
• A letter outlining the decrease in hours, and instructions on how to enroll in the program, will be sent to each employee the week prior to the commencement date of April 26, 2020.
• The week of April 26th, each employee will need to create an account with NYS UI following the instructions sent to them the week prior. They will be required to enroll on-line as well as submit weekly certifications with the State via their on-line account.
As more information become available, I will continue to share it via bulletin and with Shop Stewards Maria Restuccia and Diane Seddio. With best wishes, I remain
Sincerely and fraternally,
James M. Samuel
General Chairperson
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