We are on the eve of December, a month that is typically one of the busiest travel times as airline agents work so hard to ensure a seamless travel experience for the public. Your commitment and responsibility to the airlines help to bring families together across the country and around the world. The ease and stress of travel made more manageable because you have taken the time to help someone on their journey.

This year things are different in airports and at airlines across Canada and around the world. The global pandemic is in what many refer to as the second wave—causing increased havoc on airlines and workers.

Many airline workers have been displaced and are searching for work at jobs outside of the sector often for less pay and benefits than they were making in good airline jobs. We know these are stressful times for you and your family.

The airlines will rebound in the coming months and years, and many airline workers will return to jobs they love. Your employer Onex WestJet could have supported you more during this period by assuring you that your job would be there as demand for travel returns.

They have failed you.

Onex WestJet has taken many cost-saving initiatives to outsource all but four airport locations. They will benefit from more massive profits as the sector rebounds. In theory, it may save some money and fill the pockets of Onex shareholders, but it fails to recognize the long-lasting effects of these callous actions.

WestJet’s most prized possession was its people and the culture they supported. Without you, the airline will be different.

Onex WestJet will be offering a Voluntary Resignation Option providing a minimum termination severance entitlement as per the Canada Labour Code. If selected workers waive recall rights, to return to their jobs. They will also not be entitled to continue on the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program, recently extended until June 2021. CEWS requiring the employers continued participation in the program for worker entitlement.

These are significant decisions that you will need to discuss with your family and make a choice that works best for your situation. However, there is no real incentive to accept a meagre termination settlement at this time when you are guaranteed this in law if not recalled at the end of your recall entitlement.

At Unifor, we believe your jobs are worth fighting for, and it is why we have been supporting your efforts to join the union and negotiate a collective agreement that looks out for the rights of workers. Through all of the darkness and stress, a better alternative is within reach.

If you have any questions about what a Unifor contract can do for you in such difficult times, or anything else, 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