Please see below for the Membership communication from GPMC Executive Director Brett McKenzie.
December 11, 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Eight months has passed since the last communication from my office and I hoped that we would be in a better place. Unfortunately, the impact of COVID- 19 continues to wreak havoc across the world, and conditions across our country and those within Alberta have become worse. It’s imperative that we all must continue to do our best to protect ourselves and our families as we move towards the holiday season. We all must do our part and continue to follow the established social guidelines in order to ensure our best chance at flattening the curve. According to reports vaccinations will be rolled out shortly, but it will likely be many months before most of us are able to receive treatment. Until then, we must stay the course.
For the last several months you have held things together in Alberta and ensured that the needs of the maintenance industry have been met. The competent and qualified craft personnel represented by your participating union have reported for work and executed all tasks placed before them in a safe and productive manner. I applaud you and thank you for what has been accomplished during these challenging times. Thank you is certainly not enough to express the gratitude and respect which our Committee Members have for the unionized craft personnel across this country. This pandemic could have torn us apart, yet we were able to step up to the plate and deliver. We were able to execute work in a safe manner during these challenging times and from the outside looking in it appears as though it was business as usual. We didn’t miss a beat and kudos goes out to our members, our contractors and our Clients for your hard work and perserverance.
As 2021 approaches, the landscape within the maintenance industry remains unchanged. Covid – 19 is still present, competition for maintenance work remains fierce and we are constantly being challenged to do things differently. Our contractors continue to fight for each and every maintenance contract. There are no guarantees within this industry, and there are no jobs simply handed out without going through a series of stages. Reality is, you are only as good as your last job and cost continues to be a major driver when determining who is awarded future maintenance work. The participating Members of the GPMC/NMC intend on continuing to protect our market share while maximizing employment for our members during these challenging times. In order to do so we will be making some temporary adjustments to the collective agreement. Effective January 1, 2021 there will be a twelve (12) month extension to the ten (10) hour day, two half hour (2- ½ ) breaks, one paid and one unpaid as well as an extension to allow for staggered start times. All particulars may be found on the attached Letters of Understanding.
Please feel free to reach out to your representative on our Committee or to my office should you have any questions.
Regards,
Brett McKenzie Executive Director GPMC/NMC