Collective bargaining is all about fairness. Fair treatment for you, your co-workers, your family and your community. And because our jobs depend on healthy companies, we strive to negotiate deals that are fair to the employer, as well.

All this is especially important during a time of crisis, such as we are facing now in the airline industry thanks to the double whammy of the 737 Max delays and Covid-19.

First, let’s look at what collective bargaining is.

Collective bargaining gives you and your co-workers a voice in the workplace as you negotiate a collective agreement that sets out the rules for your relationship with the employer. It gives you a degree of certainty and predictability in your working life that is not possible without a union.

On its face, collective bargaining is a fairly straightforward process. The company and your elected bargaining team sit down at a table and negotiate a deal.

But of course, there’s more to it than that.

Unifor is a member-driven union. That means your priorities are your elected bargaining team’s priorities throughout the collective bargaining process.

One of the ways we do that is workplace surveys, which are used extensively across Unifor at the start of contract talks to gauge members’ priorities. Such surveys are personalized to each workplace.

We also hold regular membership meetings and use every tool we can to communicate with members, about workplace and legislative issues that affect our members, and to hear what your needs and wants are.

Collective bargaining is particularly important when times are tough. The airline industry has been rocked by events outside its control - 9/11, the 2008 recession, 737 Max delays and COVID-19, to name just a few.

During such times, a collective agreement sets out how the situation will be handled, ensuring you are treated fairly and with respect. In collective bargaining, the union and the employer can negotiate how best to handle the crisis at hand to meet the needs of both the company and the workers, and that the response is proportional to the challenges being faced.

That's only fair.

Job reductions or layoffs can sometimes happen during a time of crisis. With a union, a clear process is outlined in the collective agreement – an agreement that was ratified by the membership. At WestJet, however, there is no clear process that we are aware of for how layoffs will be handled. This causes added stress, offers no assurance that the process will be fair and gives you little ability to plan. With a majority of support and a collective agreement, times like these - although stressful - can be more manageable with a clear process to follow.

Perhaps more importantly, collective bargaining can help ensure that once the crisis has passed, workers are able to share in the rewards

That, too, is only fair, and is a big priority for Unifor. We saw that with the recently negotiated Aeroplan contract, which ended two-tier wages, secured work for members as the loyalty program goes through a period of transition and included stronger part-time vacation language.

To learn more about how collective bargaining can help you, especially during a time of crisis, 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