Memorandum of Agreement
On March 13, 2025 the Membership of ATU Local 583 voted heavily in favour of accepting the proposed Memorandum of Agreement. 70% of voting Members accepted the proposed Memorandum which will now be our Collective Agreement, expiring December 31, 2026.
Some important gains were made. For a full breakdown of what those are please see atu583.com/news where we have a synopsis of the memorandum available to view.
We would like to thank the negotiating committee for reaching an agreement without having to take job action.
This was a tough round and the negotiations committee stayed at the table longer than they originally anticipated because of the gains they were able to make in addition to the general wage increases.
And of course, we want to thank the Scrutineers that monitored the vote. This group of volunteers really helped ensure the vote and the count went as smoothly as possible. There was only one exception which we will discuss later in this letter and it was clearly no fault of theirs.
We are already in preparation for the next round and will be surveying the Members as is the usual practice before we present an opener to the City.
Copies of the new agreement should be available in the next couple of months. In the meantime, the memorandum is available on our website for anyone who wishes to peruse.
Member Abuse During the Memorandum Vote
Before we get into the main topic, we want to explain how Memorandum voting and ballot counting works, as some Members may not be aware of the process.
Firstly, once a Memorandum has been agreed upon by the ATU 583 Negotiations Committee and the City Negotiations Committee, we let Members know that a memorandum is being proposed to the Membership.
Next, dates are set for special called meetings. At these meetings the Officers discuss the changes to the previous collective agreement that are being proposed in the new one. Members are able to ask questions and get clarity on any parts of the proposed memorandum they require.
Concurrent with setting special called meeting dates, a date for voting is also set.
Something new we have been doing with this administration is to provide synopses of the changes for Members who may be unable to make the special called meetings or who want to read the changes in their own time.
We also had a Facebook Live Monthly Update where the Officers went over the proposed changes and answered questions for over two hours. This was to extend information even further, to those who could not attend the special called meetings and who still needed more clarity/had extra questions after the synopsis was posted.
Once a date for voting has been set, the Officers appoint scrutineers. These are Members in good standing with the Local and are comprised of Stewards, committee Members and volunteers from the general membership who have proven themselves to be trustworthy and respected by their peers.
On the date of the vote, Members can vote at any of the designated locations during the designated times.
It is important to note that Scrutineers DO NOT offer their personal opinion on the memorandum nor do they tell Members how to vote. What they are able to say is that the Negotiations Committee – and by extension the Executive Board – is in favour of accepting the memorandum. Non-scrutineers are not able to be in the immediate area giving their opinion, discussing or otherwise. Members are more than welcome to discuss their feelings on the proposed memorandum pretty much anywhere else.
Now onto the incident that occurred March 13, 2025 at Anderson Garage’s voting station.
Two Scrutineers were accosted by a group of approximately 12-15 ATU Members who were agitating and making demands of the Scrutineers and loudly saying the memorandum should be voted against. This was done in closed quarters in the sign-up room at Anderson garage and went on for about 30 minutes. This was after they had already been permitted to vote.
The Scrutineers did what they could to try and alleviate the agitation and anger in the group. Several people in the group demanded to be present at the counting of the ballots, which is not the process. This is exactly why we have Scrutineers – one part of their job is to view the ballot counting and to sign off on it. When these Members were told no, they became angrier and as one Scrutineer described “started to be nuts”.
At this time, our Chief Steward arrived and the group then turned on him. The yelling was so loud and the intimidation so apparent that our Scrutineers genuinely feared for their safety. Our Chief Steward remained calm, putting himself between the group and the Scrutineers. By this time our Vice President was also in attendance and between the four of them, managed to contain the situation.
To be clear, this is unacceptable behaviour. Intimidation will not be tolerated.
They circulated a very brief video of one of the Scrutineers raising her voice to tell people to leave the voting area. To be clear on this as well, this occurred after about 30 minutes of intimidation, however these members neglected to show any of that. Their video was intended to create a false narrative. These Scrutineers remained above reproach.
These are the exact same things that infuriate us when the public abuses our members and the Union uses every resource we have to defend them.
If you believe there is an issue with a Local election there are respectable methods built into our Constitution to address this. These people have no right to try to intimidate and bully other members, whether they are volunteers or elected representatives. Full Stop. There is no honour in acting as these Members did.
This Locals strength is in the fellowship of our members. We are 112 years old and have never had anything like this happen before. We have endured strikes and pandemics and always come out the other side stronger for it. We will not let a small group of self interest individuals tear that down.
That is why it is important that we go on the record with the facts when something like this happens. Otherwise, those false narratives become the only story and the rumours appear to be the truth.
Please, always feel welcome to contact your Union Officers if you hear something concerning that doesn’t seem appropriate.
Keeping Your Information Up to Date with Local 583
A reminder to make sure that your address and phone number are up to date with the Local 583 office. Member information is not always transferred to us when it is updated with the employer therefore, please be proactive in keeping your information up to date.
Your family should also be made aware of how to contact the Union in the event that you are hospitalized over night so we can provide you with a snack basket or flowers to make your stay a little more comfortable.
Your executor or a family member should also be aware of the $2000 funeral benefit you have as a member of ATU Local 583.
ATU 583 New building
As of March 1st, 2025 we are in the new building located at 208, 57 Ave SW in Calgary.
The main floor is where the new meeting hall is located. This was a very important part of our move as it makes meetings much more accessible.
We also have more parking at this location! Parking is available on the east and west sides of the building, there is street parking and we have some off-site parking one block east which will be available shortly. We are excited for this new move and the accessibility it will afford us. Having all Members able to utilize the ATU 583 building is very important to us.
We look forward to seeing you in the new location. We are working on holding an Open House in the next couple of months.
Member Updates:
For the Membership’s information, we have had some new areas come under Local 583 in the last couple of years:
As of May 8th, 2023 Controllers and Dispatchers were made part of ATU 583.
As of June 3rd, 2024 Field Supervisors were made part of ATU 583.
As of April 7th, 2025 Trainers were made part of ATU 583.
Watch here for further additions to our Membership this July.
We are proud to have these new Members on board and of course welcome them all to Local 583.
COPE 397 /jw
