Over the last year, especially since the announcement of the Onex takeover last spring, WestJet workers have had to rely on rumours, speculation and surprise announcements on everything from uniforms to scheduling and to figure out what is going on at their own company.

That’s just not good enough, and you deserve better. You built this company. You are the frontline of a company that relies on customer service to keep passengers coming back.

Despite that, you rarely get straight answers on what is happening at WestJet - and when you do, it’s rarely good news, such as messed up vacations, poorly thought-out uniform policies or disappointing (to say the least) wage increases. Consider just a few examples:

• Oct 2019 – Upsetting changes to vacation bidding for some workers over the holiday period are introduced. AEA absent.
• Sept 2019 – Call centre wage increases are tiny and inconsistent. AEA absent.
• Sept 2019 – Talk of staff reductions and changes in job duties with reports of staff cuts through attrition, no contract renewals and consolidation of CSA and GSA and BSAs at some locations. AEA absent.
• Sept 2019 – WestJet makes arbitrary scheduling changes. AEA absent.
• Aug 2019 – WestJet seeks exemptions from the newly enacted labour standards. AEA absent.
• Aug 2019 – Unifor learns that employees are not getting paid for all of the hours they work and are shortchanged on overtime. AEA absent.
• Aug 2019 – WestJet offers to let employees reduce their hours, double speak on whether benefits would be affected in the future.
• July 2019 – WestJet cuts employee benefits. AEA absent.
• May 2019 – WestJet lays a goose egg with no raises for frontline workers. AEA absent.
• April 2019 – WestJet rolls out uniform policy with some ridiculous rules. AEA absent.
• April 2019 – Seniority scheduling vote leaves WestJet employees confused and there are suggestions that the voting was not done fairly.
• March 2019 – Boeing 737 Max grounded causing all sorts of industry chaos and rumours about WestJet’s future, which is based on the Max flying internationally. AEA absent.
• January 2019 – Health and safety becomes an issue as new tasks are assigned. AEA absent.
• January 2019 – Swoop threatens jobs going down the counter. AEA absent.
• November 2018 – WestJet schedules upset workers as they have no voice. AEA absent.

This could have been a much longer list, of course. Many of you might have a few rumours or poorly planned policy changes to add (we’d love to hear them).

In the meantime, look at the list and consider how many times you were left not being fully informed about what was going on, how often arbitrary changes were made without your input and how many times the Airport Employees Association was absent when you needed them most.

It doesn’t have to be this way. With a union, you have a voice, and the right to provide real input when changes are being made.

To sign a union card or to find out how you can help your coworkers sign a card, please contact one of your organizers.

Contact us! Talk to our organizing representatives! 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