The AEA continues to play catch-up, and in the process is showing WestJetters why you need a real union.

A week after Unifor raised concerns about layoff and recall rights at WestJet, as well as letting you know about the employer’s efforts to seek an exemption from the federal government to its obligations around layoffs and recalls, the AEA has finally spoken up – and yet still said very little.

In a letter last week, the AEA said it wants to be fully transparent about its discussions with WestJet about recall rights and the exemption application, and yet provided no details and failed to acknowledge that it didn’t talk about these issues until Unifor raised them.

That’s just not good enough, and not how it works for unionized workers at WestJet. Flight attendants, for instance, have the security of knowing CUPE is on their side ensuring that their right are protected.

To learn more, join us on Zoom call Monday, where members of the CUPE Local 4070 executive will outline the difference a union has made for cabin Crew at WestJet.

“As President of CUPE Local 4070 representing our 4,100 Cabin Crew Members across WestJet, WestJet Encore and Swoop, I’d be happy to share any perspective that anyone may want to hear as to why Cabin Crew through their Union is the only workgroup in the Company to retain WSP contributions and Employer match during this crisis, as well as only through having a union in place to ensure layoffs were executed in a fair and sound manner, not through arbitrary Management decisions. Unifor wants to have your back, just like CUPE has ours. Let’s welcome our proud WestJet Ground Agents to the Union family,” said Chris Rauenbusch.

The call takes place on Monday, June 1 2020 at 10pm ET on the Unifor In Teal page. Organizing Director Kellie Scanlan will also join us.Those not on Facebook can join directly by clicking here. Meeting ID: 886 0099 4913, Password: 781856.

The fact is, company unions such as the AEA are simply not up to the task. A real union, such a Unifor, brings decades of experience to the table, and is backed up by expert staff who can advise your elected representatives on their best options.

Unifor is a member-driven union, meaning you pick the leadership and you set the priorities. Having a union also means that you have a collective agreement setting out how issues such as recall rights are handled, and ensuring that you have a constant voice in the workplace.

With the AEA, you are constantly playing catch-up. With no collective agreement in place, the AEA is forced to start from scratch with every issue that comes up.

A collective agreement, however, is about much more than recall rights - though that is certainly a top priority right now. It’s also about health and safety (surely to be a key issue as airport traffic increases), scheduling, uniforms, having a grievance procedure to address issues as they come up and to ensure there’s no favouritism, and more.

Getting a collective agreement begins with more of your co-workers signing a Unifor membership card. That has never been easier, thanks to our new online card.

Please forward this email to co-workers who are currently on CEWS or CERB and urge them to click on the Join Unifor button above and fill out an online card.

Feel free, as well, to tell them to reach out to any of our organizers if they have any questions. We are here to help, and all calls are confidential.

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