Unifor would like to take this opportunity to welcome to WestJet two recent hires at the executive level.

This was to be expected. New owners often bring in new management teams as they put their mark on the company. It’s standard corporate practice, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. After all, the new owners have every right to ensure they have managers in place who share their corporate vision as they set about making the changes they deem necessary.

Two recent high-profile hires to the management team are:

• Angela Avery, hired as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary on January 30. A long-time business lawyer, WestJet says Avery “will play an important role in working with WestJet's Board of Directors, Onex and other key stakeholders.” She starts Monday.
  
  
• Billy Nolen, hired as Vice-President, Safety, Security and Quality on February 10. Previously with Qantas and American Airlines, WestJet says Nolen “will be responsible for the strategic direction of all safety, security and quality related activities across the WestJet group.” He starts February 24. 

To be honest, beyond their job titles and the brief job descriptions available, it’s a bit tough to say exactly what they will be doing all day, or what impact they will have on Frontline Airport Workers at WestJet.

We can say that if Unifor was your union, we’d be working hard to meet with any new managers who join the team, especially if their job has anything to do with your job. This wouldn’t be an adversarial thing. Quite the opposite, in fact. The idea is to get to know people before problems arise, so that you have a working relationship whenever an issue comes up.

We can also confidently say that these will not be the last high-profile hires we can expect to see as Onex extends its control over the airline. Like we said, it’s pretty standard corporate behaviour, and we can expect it to be playing out more and more over the next year as Onex’s control becomes stronger.

The AEA, however, has once again remained silent through all of this. You deserve better. If the AEA is, in fact, actively working on your behalf as all this change take place, you have a right to know what they are doing and the results of their work – just as you would with a real union.

To find out more, or to talk to an Organizer about what a real union can do for you in a time of transition, or to talk about anything else, 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