With the first full work week of 2020 fully under way and the holiday rush behind us, we would like to wish you and yours a Happy New Year.

As promised before the holidays, we will continue to reach out in the airports and through emails such as this throughout what promises to be an important year in the life of WestJet, with Onex fully taking over and the Boeing 737 Max continuing to be a concern.

But more on that later. For now, let’s take a quick look at why Unifor is the union for frontline airport workers and call centre workers at WestJet.

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, with more than 315,000 members across the country, working in every major sector of the Canadian economy. Unifor gives you the voice you need and deserve in the workplace.

Unifor represents more than 7,500 customer service agents working in airports across the county. These companies include: Air Canada, Jazz, Porter, First Air, Canadian North, Calm Air, Swissport, ATS and Horizon Air.

In addition, Unifor represents more than 10,000 air transportation workers at Aeroplan, Air Georgian, ASP, Calm Air, Cargojet, CLS Catering, Envoy Air, EVAS, Flair Air, GTAA, Jervis B. Webb, JTS, Ornge, Pascan Aviation, Sunwing, Perimeter Aviation, Worldwide Flight Services, Propair, Morningstar Air Express and Nasittuq.

What can you expect from Unifor? Here are 10 re​asons to get you started, but there are more!

1. A voice – Unifor is a democratic and accountable union, with a structure that encourages and supports your voice within the union.
2. Better working conditions - on average union members do better in all aspects of their working conditions than their non-union counterparts.
3. Experience – Unifor has trained and professional staff who ensure that you have the knowledge needed to protect your interests at work.
4. Benefits – Unifor negotiates collective agreements with health benefits which include vision, prescription, dental and more.
5. Legal support – Unifor gives advice, support and legal representation to our members so they never have to face problems alone.
6. Job security – Unifor collective agreements ensure that all management decisions are made in a fair and just manner - eliminating random and arbitrary decisions.
7. Dignity – When dealing with issues of harassment or favouritism, you are not alone. Unifor will be at your side to handle unfair practices.
8. Training – As a member, you’ll have access to Unifor’s education programs that can help you develop skills to create a better workplace, community and country.
9. Safety – Unifor will ensure all Health and Safety legislation is being adhered to and any violations are dealt with promptly, and enshrine proper processes through your collective agreement.
10. A chance to get involved – Unifor offers plenty of opportunities to be actively involved in your local union and community.

We hope the holiday rush went well for you, and that you got to spend some time with friends and family.

If you have any questions, or would like to sign a Unifor card or help you co-workers sign a card, please reach out to 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