CUPE 4070

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2025 Vacation Bidding

Chris Amaddeo

Dear Members,
 
  This communication was put together by your CUPE 4070 Scheduling Review Committee as a tool to further assist in the understanding of the Vacation Bidding Process as outlined in The Collective Agreement as well as the Vacation Software.
 
  Vacation Bidding language can be found in your collective agreement, Article 46.
               Specifically

  • 46-4 Vacation Bidding

  • 46-5 Vacation Awards

 
46-1.02 A Cabin Personnel’s annual vacation allotment is as follows: a) During the first three (3) years of employment Cabin Personnel earn two (2) weeks per year. b) At the commencement of the fourth (4th) year of employment until the end of the sixth (6th) year of employment Cabin Personnel earn three (3) weeks per year. c) At the commencement of the seventh (7th) year of employment Cabin Personnel earn four (4) weeks per year.
 
46-4.01 There will be two (2) rounds of vacation bidding.
 
46-5.02 The first round of vacation awards will consist of two waves. In the first wave, the most senior Cabin Personnel will be awarded only up to three (3) vacation weeks of their allotment provided they have entered sufficient preferences during the bid process. The next senior Cabin Personnel will then be awarded up to three (3) vacation weeks in the same manner, until the least senior Cabin Personnel has gone through the process.
 

  • The most common misunderstanding that we have seen in past years is the difference between ROUNDS and WAVES.

    • There are only TWO (2) Rounds of Vacation Bidding.  Each Round contains TWO (2) Waves within that round.

    • Rounds: The Two primary bidding periods.

    • Waves: Contained within each Round, vacation blocks are awarded in two (2) separate Waves within each Round.

  The following will explain Waves within the Rounds further to help with understanding the process and hopefully help further when placing your Vacation Bid Requests and overall satisfaction.
 
  For illustrative purposes, we’ll use CCM in the examples to avoid confusion.  The same process applies to CMs Vacation Bidding, who bid for separate vacation blocks. 

  1. Round One (1), Wave One (1):

    1. In Round one (1), Wave one (1) each CCM will receive a maximum of three (3) vacation blocks before the system will move onto the next CCM.

    2. The system will begin with the most senior CCM and work down the seniority list, awarding what is available in relation to what a CCM has requested until the system has gone through all of the CCMs on the seniority list.

      1. If you do not give the system enough request to choose from, and all the vacation blocks you have requested are not available when it gets to your seniority, the system will award you nothing and move to the next CCM.

      2. This is why it is important to put in as many requests as possible so that you are not missed in either of the Waves within the Vacation Bidding Rounds.

  2. Round One (1), Wave Two (2):

    1. This Wave begins once the system has gone through the complete Seniority List and Awards a maximum of three (3) blocks of vacation to each CCM where possible.

      1. Remember if you do not provide the system with enough vacation bid options, it will award what it can, if anything and continue to the next CCM.

    2. In Wave two (2), the system starts at the most senior CCM and awards the remaining vacation block each individual CCM is eligible to hold.

      1. Remembering if you do not provide the system with enough vacation bid options, it will award what it can, if anything and continue to the next CCM.

  If you do not provide the system enough options to award you vacation in either of these WAVES, it will move onto the next CCM.  You are not limited to the number of vacation bid options that you can place in each Round of vacation bidding.
  Place your Requests in order of what is most important to you.  Please keep in mind that if you put 4 weeks of vacation for December as your most important bids and the system can award those in both WAVES, you will end up receiving 4 weeks of vacation all in December.
For Example:

  • CCM #1 places bid #1-#4 for December.  The system will award bid #1-#3 in the first wave.  Then it will start the second wave, if their #4 bid for December is still available, it will award that and move to the following bid requests.

  We can not stress enough to pay attention to the WAVES within the Rounds.  This is where we see the most mistakes made when bidding for your vacation.  Know your seniority level as well and be realistic with your bids in the order in which you want them if the system is able to award those Vacation Blocks. 
               For Example:

  • If you are senior and you do not want half of your vacation weeks in December, do not put all of December requests in sequential order

  We have provided some examples below.  These examples are if all three (3) CCMs were to have seven (7) weeks of vacation in a year for the purpose of showing how the system awards. These do not reflect actual vacation blocks, nor do they reflect what anyone at that seniority level could be awarded.  These are provided to show how the waves work and nothing further.  We did not take this information from any past vacation bidding or awards, they are generic and example vacation blocks and awards.

See this content in the original post

  The chart above shows that a CCM with a lower seniority than you may be awarded a Vacation block in the First Wave that you requested.  The system awards a maximum of 3 weeks at a time.  By the time that the system arrives at your seniority in the Second Wave, the blocks you requested may no longer be available.

  We see this often in disputes that CCMs with lower seniority were awarded a vacation block that a senior requested.  If it was awarded to the Junior CCM in the First Wave, it was likely not available for the senior CCM during the Second Wave, due to possibly being awarded to a junior CCM in the First Wave.  Please keep in mind the system does look at your vacation bidding options in sequential order when placing your bids.
 
  Please remember, in each WAVE, the system will only award up to a maximum of Three (3) weeks of Vacation Block, if possible.  If you do not put enough Bid Requests in for the system to do this, it will award what it can to you and move on to the next CCM.
 
  Round Two (2) of Vacation Bidding will follow this same model with Two (2) Waves awarding a maximum of Three (3) Vacation Blocks at a time.
 
  Things to remember:

  • The system awards a maximum of three (3) Vacation Blocks per Wave.

  • The system processes each Wave in seniority order.

  • Be sure to have sufficient bids placed that if the system does not have available blocks when it gets to you, it has options so that you do not end up with nothing.

For further information on 2025 Vacation Bidding please refer to the Vacation Bidding package located on SharePoint HERE.

Your WS Scheduling Review Committee
WS.SRC@CUPE4070.ca