Bargaining Update #8: Summary of Week 7 and 8 at the Table
Dear Members,
The Mainline Bargaining Committee has just completed its third week in a row of bargaining, and this update covers key updates from the past two weeks of bargaining.
The November 24th week brought us back to Calgary in hopes of continuing our momentum from Montreal at the table with the Employer. As mentioned previously, we’re moving onto articles that either directly or indirectly have financial implications within our agreement, as well as touching on more fundamental aspects of roles as Cabin Personnel.
The week of December 1st took us to Vancouver where no new proposals were passed from either side; however, progress was made on those articles in open negotiations. This includes pass backs and counter proposals being built on:
Article 22 – Ad Hoc Assignments
Article 39 – Training
Article 40 – Charter Operations and Special Purpose Flights
Article 42 – Pay Schedule and Pay Discrepancies
Article 50 – Legal
As always, for live updates and to track the status of each article, please visit the Article Tracker at www.wjcomponent.ca/negotiation-tracker.
Tone Shift
Over these past weeks, your Bargaining Committee continued to advance the articles and proposals built directly on Member feedback and real operational experience. We want to share candidly that the tone has continued to shift at the table. Several of the items that matter deeply to you received limited engagement, and in some cases no meaningful consideration from the Employer.
As Members are not in the room, it’s important for the committee to ensure the membership understand the dynamic: when proposals rooted in your day-to-day realities are met with minimal acknowledgement, it becomes clear how far apart we remain in ensuring Cabin Personnel are treated with the seriousness and respect this profession deserves.
The Bargaining Committee is steadfast in ensuring that the Employer understands that our members lived experience as safety professionals deserve more than surface level engagement. We remain committed to holding that line on behalf of our Profession and the membership.
While we recognize the tone shift at the table and the messaging shared during yesterday’s WestJet Live, which built on information the Company has been shaping over the past year, we want to be clear with the membership: this kind of shift is common when negotiations move from non-monetary to monetary issues.
The Local Executive Committee will continue to monitor the information presented and engage with the Company to understand its implications. At the same time, your Bargaining Committee remains firmly committed to securing meaningful gains at the table, consistent with the mandate set by our membership.
The Company continues to undervalue the critical work we do, and while that reality weighs on us, it does nothing to weaken our resolve. We must continue to stand in unity with one another and support one another as this is where we get our collective strength within the bargaining room. These tactics will not change our position at the table as we have been undervalued and under compensated for the last five years under CA1 and are not willing to do it again for the duration of CA2.
Upcoming Learning Series Focus: Article 35 – Reserve
On November 27th, the Employer presented their first proposal for Article 35 Reserve. Your committee now has this important information, which we will combine with:
the broad concept discussions of previous weeks, and
the survey data collected during the summer which covered preliminary priorities in the Reserve Article.
This will help us craft a comprehensive and realistic Reserve survey for the membership, one that reflects both operational realities and your lived experiences.
Reserve Learning Series
Your Committee has already invested time in compiling a detailed Learning Series dedicated to all aspects of Reserve. This will cover detailed exploration of our current reserve structure, alternative models at other carriers, and a detailed breakdown of the impacts of any changes we seek.
Your Questions About the Bargaining Process
Many members have reached out with questions about where we are in the bargaining timeline and how they can participate. We appreciate these questions as an engaged membership serves to strengthen our position at the table.
Where We Are Right Now
Collective bargaining is a legal process with clearly defined stages and rules. Importantly:
When we filed Notice to Bargain in September, all current working conditions and contractual obligations were frozen until a new agreement is ratified, or we are in a legal job action position.
This legal freeze continues even after the expiry of the current agreement - unless it is mutually agreed upon by the Union and Employer.
Both the Union and the Employer must continue to uphold all obligations under CA1 during this period.
Next Steps:
We are still in the negotiations stage and will continue to be in this phase as each side continues to negotiate and make progress on finding mutual agreement on each article.
The next step in the process would be either reaching a tentative agreement, or should we reach an impasse, a notice of dispute would be filed which would trigger the next phase of the process Notice of Dispute/Conciliation.
Neither side has filed a notice of dispute as we are still making progress in negotiations and have a significant number of articles that have not begun negotiations yet.
We continue to bargain in good faith and expect that to be reciprocated by the Company.
Below (and on our website) we have shared the Bargaining process graphic that is on our website so members can review this material to know what lies ahead.
In Unity,
WestJet Bargaining Committee
Alia Hussain - President
Bryan Hansraj - WestJet Unit VP
Jean-Francois Laframboise - YVR/YEG Rep
Shane Campbell - YYC Rep
Justin Patterson - YYZ Rep
Cailey Millard - YWG/YUL Rep
Alex Grigoriev - Local Executive (Alternate)
Cameron Jones - Local Executive (Alternate)
