Back in January 2021, our union drive began to gain momentum and inside organizers had meaningful and productive conversations with the YYC and YVR teams.  On Monday, April 12th, Unifor filed for an Application for Certification with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board on behalf of WestJet airports agents working at YYC and YVR. 

On May 20th, the CIRB approved our Certification, and we were officially welcomed into the Unifor family.  There were six coordinator positions that the Company challenged as they didn't believe they belonged in the bargaining unit, however in August 2021, WestJet lost their challenge with the Canada Labour Board, and the positions remained in the Union.

Your Bargaining Committee members were then elected, and we hit the ground running.  We sent out surveys and held many Zoom meetings to ensure our members concerns were heard and represented in our Collective Agreement.  The Bargaining team came together for the first time in September and began the hard work of developing a comprehensive and inclusive agreement that best represents the needs of our members.  On Monday, October 18th, we opened the bargaining process with The Company and have completed six productive weeks.

We are looking forward to starting off 2022 with bargaining in YVR during the weeks of January 17th and 24th.  It will still be a while before we have a Collective Agreement, we are confident of presenting to our members, but we are committed to the process and are proud of the work we have done so far. 

As always, please reach out to your Bargaining Committee members (listed below) if you have any concerns, suggestions, or ideas for our Collective Agreement.

SHIFT EXTENSIONS

Over the past few weeks, in collaboration with WestJet, your Bargaining Committee has worked diligently on how processes and communication can be improved regarding shift extensions.  Back in August, a shift extension Q&A was sent to all employees, but recently we have found our members have more questions. We are happy to announce that the interim agreement was sent out this week to the YVR and YYC bases.  Additional information has been added to the initial Q&A and we hope this addresses any outstanding questions you may have. This joint communication was agreed upon, outside of the bargaining table and may change once we ratify our first collective agreement. If you have any questions about the email release, please reach out to any one of the Bargaining Committee members.

We want to be very clear with our stance on shift extension and IROP situations.  Your safety comes first. You can decline a shift extension for many reasons including:

  • Family Responsibility – you have children, dependents, pets or elderly parents who require your presence and care.
  • Personal Health – you require medication at specific times, you feel you are compromising your personal health, you require a special diet etc.
  • Personal Safety – if extending would compromise your safely getting home (i.e. public transportation is no longer running or driving a far distance would be dangerous), you are feeling fatigued and need to rest etc.

FORMING UNION / MANAGEMENT RELATIONSHIPS

In the last few weeks, we have had conversations with our membership regarding issues in the workplace.  While we are more than willing to listen and offer suggestions to our members, we want to remind everyone that we do not have a Collective Agreement in place yet.  We are limited to what we can do in terms of current WestJet policy and procedures.

When we received our Certification back in May, we entered a freeze on all changes. While the Company has been receptive to working with the Union on issues that are pressing the operation, we need to remind everyone that we cannot affect current policy and we must abide by it. 

Please consider the issue or problem you are experiencing and how it can be solved.  We encourage everyone to book a one-on-one meeting with your leader, try to find the answers and come to us if you need our support. 

KEEPING OURSELVES SAFE

The Company has understaffed the operation, and this is putting huge pressures on our members. Employees are burning out and sick calls are at an all-time high, putting even more pressure on those on the floor.  WestJet is to blame solely for these operation faults, yet you are the ones tirelessly working overtime and bearing the brunt of the publics anger without support from leadership.

 We strongly encourage all our members to look out for themselves.  Your own personal safety and mental health must take priority. Please ensure you are taking all your breaks and if you are unable to, ensure you have reported any missed breaks to your DDC to ensure you are properly compensated.  We encourage all members to be diligent with their timekeeping and suggest reviewing your Kronos and paychecks on a regular basis. Do not put your own personal safety and mental health before the success of the Company. 

GRATITUDE

Lastly, we would like to show our gratitude to Jerry Dias and the Unifor team for taking care of our members this year.  By now, you should have received a very generous gift in your email from Unifor.  This gift to our members shows we are stronger together with our collective voice and that the Union will always have our backs. 

The Bargaining Team would also like to thank our members in YVR and YYC, and our Unifor leaders, Leslie Dias, Frances Galambosy and Billy O'Neill for your tireless work this year. We are so proud of our members for joining Unifor and are looking forward to a very prosperous and successful relationship. 

Together, We Fly

Local 531 Bargaining Committee

As always, if you need support in the workplace or have any questions for us, here's how you can reach us:

YVR

Karen Berry
705.828.7795
[email protected]

Mark Enns
778.552.2344
[email protected]

Breanne Laihow
778.887.6156
[email protected]

YYC

Sherwin Antonio
403.660.7154
[email protected]

Sandeep Samrai
403.608.9392
[email protected]

Jamie Mote
403.606.0464
[email protected]

Lindsay Landry
403.850.4748
[email protected]

If you have friends that work at YYZ and YEG who have not yet signed a Unifor membership card, let them know that they can do this at join.unifor.org/federalcard