WestJet’s Ultra Low-Cost Carrier (ULCC) continues its expansion as it acquires its tenth aircraft and moves east by adding St. John's, N.L., Moncton, N.B., and Charlottetown, P.E.I, to its spring through fall schedule.

More flight options will surely provide increased opportunity for those looking to travel throughout our great country. WestJet’s regional airline Encore already flies to these three cities from Toronto.

What we fail to see, however, is the protection of good CSA, GSA and BSA jobs at WestJet and WestJet Encore as Swoop continues to build a strong presence in the Canadian airline transportation sector.

We know that Swoop outsources these jobs to ground handling companies who bid on tenders to provide the services that WestJetters were already doing. These ground handling companies not only provide less compensation and benefits, they also reduce your opportunity to travel with your flight passes on WestJet routes that Swoop is now covering.

ULCCs are not new to the industry. In fact, we at Unifor watched as Air Canada launched AC Rouge. Air Canada airport agents didn’t need to watch as their “jobs moved down the counter” to lower paid ground handling companies because they had a collective agreement.

The Unifor-Air Canada collective agreement provided language that specifically dealt with the outsourcing of jobs. The result was that although Air Canada has a ULLC, the airport agent role is still being provided by Unifor members working at Air Canada.

As members of Unifor, WestJet airport agents would have the ability to bargain similar language in a collective agreement if that is the will of your membership.

Until more of your co-workers sign Unifor membership cards to help us get to a majority of support required for certification, you will watch more jobs move down the counter as your employer implements any changes as they see fit, with no say about your future or your working conditions.

WestJet’s Swoop has been under investigation for predatory pricing since November 2018 after Flair Airlines accused it of selling flights below costs. The recent $1 seat sale by WestJet has revived those accusations. We are not in a position to pass judgement on these allegations, but WestJet’s aggressive pricing makes one thing perfectly clear – the company is anxious to move more of its business to Swoop by offering low prices to consumers.

Bringing in more business is certainly good for the company, but is only good for those working on the frontline if your jobs move down the counter with the flights. That is not the model at Swoop. Only membership in a union and a collective agreement can get you that.

To find out how you can prevent your job moving down the counter without you, or to sign a Unifor card or to help your co-workers sign a card, please contact one of your Organizers.

All calls are confidential.

Ontario
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