3. Day off Protections – Russ Jacobie
Recently the Company has begun forcing pilots to work into their days off. Historically this has been done very rarely, when there were literally no other options (an aircraft stranded at an outstation due to a mx issue) but more recently the company has been forcing pilots to work when it is simply convenient. Examples of reserve on days off and added roundtrips on days off are becoming commonplace.
It is SAPA's position that days off are protected, that they are inviolate and are not available for the Company to use in any situation. I think sometimes labor makes blanket statements like that and people gloss over them as typical rhetoric. That is not the case here. Policy, precedent, and common sense support our position on this.
SP3005 definitions defines a day off as:
day off a. A day or days that are free from all assignments, including travel.
I always always hesitate to recommend any behavior that risks jobs. Unfortunately sick calls, emergency calls, refusing to answer phones, not picking up open time, etc. are about the only tools at SAPA's disposal. Typically labor groups would sue, petition the NMB, or even strike, but SAPA does not have those resources. What I can do is recommend everyone fly as safe as possible until this is resolved. Today is Thursday August 24th, 2017, and as of today nobody's time off is their own.