March 20, 2019
27.4.128
Background
The employees, who span a number of job classifications and levels, have a permanent work location at Location A, City C, Province F. On April 1, 2016, the Vacation Travel Assistance (VTA) for City C, Province F was set at $897, down from $1,526 the previous year. The manager at the time contacted the Designated Departmental Coordinator seeking clarification with respect to the change in assistance. An explanation for the change was provided stating that the decrease was due to lower market rates offered by Airline X.
On April 3, 2017, the new VTA rates were released, effective April 1st. The VTA for City C, Province F remained unchanged from the year prior. The grievors are claiming that the lowered VTA amount is insufficient to cover actual vacation expenses and that the airline used to calculate the amount is disadvantageous and hence, submitted grievances.
Grievance
The employees grieve management’s decision to base VTA for 2017 on Airline X flight prices. The employees feel this is a violation of the NJC agreement as a whole specifically “Determination of the point of departure” as the example is given.
Executive Committee Decision
The Executive Committee considered the circumstances and arguments with respect to timeliness concerning this grievance and agreed the matter is timely.
The Executive Committee also considered the facts and noted the similarity with NJC grievances 27.4.124, heard on February 7, 2018; 27.4.121, heard November 8, 2017; and 27.4.110, heard January 28, 2014. It is noted that grievance 27.4.124 in particular dealt with the question of point of departure and the same airline. The grievances were denied as the methodology established to determine the VTA was correctly applied. As the issue raised is the same, the present grievance is therefore denied.