The Airline sector had a rough year in 2020; 2021 still looks uncertain. As the year ended, the UK government announced a more infectious variant of the COVID-19 virus that was 70x more transmissible.

Canada quickly joined more than 40 other countries by banning flights from the UK; this ban just expired on Wednesday. Canada has moved to a pre-departure protocol that will require anyone flying to Canada to show proof of a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours of boarding the plane.

These steps, meant to slow the spread of the virus, will cause more strain on airlines.

A slower than expected COVID-19 vaccine roll out across Canadian provinces has diminished hope of a quicker recovery for airline travel.

Politicians and public figures face a tremendous backlash from the general populations for travelling internationally over the holiday season while Canadians were told to stay home in lockdown without visiting their families. This pressure is sure to cause many to question their travel plans even while airlines promote vacation travel destinations.

All of this continues to wreak havoc on an already troubled industry.

As demand for air travel continues to decline, we watch as WestJet has offloaded four of its 767s planes to Amazon.com Inc. for its cargo services.

Just today, WestJet announced that they would cut 1000 more jobs and reduce weekly departures by cutting 230 routes; 160 of them domestic. The flight reductions mean the airline will only have about 150 flights per day. That's about what WestJet had in June of 2001.

It is no surprise that airlines in Canada need to make adjustments to meet lower demand, but being part of a union can make these tough times more predictable. Those that are unionized will have negotiated language that will see them return to the airline when it rebounds. Good layoff and recall language are one of the many reasons workers join unions.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Onex WestJet has treated its most loyal airports workers with contempt as they cast thousands of them out of work and outsourced their jobs to third party ground handling providers. Another possibility existed, Onex WestJet could have provided recall agreements to workers that would see them return to their jobs as business increased. Instead, they focused solely on their profit-driven plan to reduce future costs making them more profitable post-pandemic.

Bargaining gives employees an equal footing.

A collective agreement, or contract, is a legally binding agreement between a union and an employer. In addition, to lay off and recall language, it covers wages, hours of work, working conditions, benefits, rights of workers and the union, and a procedure to settle workplace disputes. When an industry is in full transformation, collective agreements help employees weather the storm.

There are alternatives to accepting jobs cuts from Onex WestJet and the Airports Employee Association (AEA). Talk with your coworkers about signing a Unifor membership card or update your card if it has been longer than six months since you signed.

If you have any questions or would like to sign a Unifor card or help your co-workers sign a card, please reach out to one of your organizers.

Billy O'Neill, Unifor
[email protected] | 416-605-1443

Quebec
Ada Zampini, Unifor
[email protected] | 514-701-6227

Prairies
Bruce Fafard, Unifor
[email protected] | 587-341-0945

British Columbia
Simon Lau, Unifor
[email protected] | 778-928-9630

Atlantic
Patrick Murray, Unifor
[email protected] | 506-850-7996