Dear Members,
Your Bargaining Committee met with the Company this week and presented 2 initial proposals. These articles are:
Article 35 – Reserve
Article 49 – Severance Pay
Article 35 is widely recognized as one of the more challenging provisions within our Collective Agreement, particularly for our junior members who are impacted by it most often. Recognizing the significance of this issue and the frustration it continues to create for many members, we approached the development of our initial proposal with care and attention. Members told us that their primary concerns included reducing maximum duty periods and improving transparency in reserve assignments.
With this feedback in mind, your Bargaining Committee developed its initial proposal to address the issues members identified as most important. Given the impact reserve has on quality of life, scheduling predictability, and work-life balance, considerable discussion, analysis, and preparation went into ensuring the proposal reflects the priorities brought forward by the membership.
Our goal was to present a proposal that is directly informed by member feedback and focused on achieving meaningful improvements for our Cabin Crew Members.
Currently, there are 11 articles under active discussion, with the Company reviewing 9 articles and your Bargaining Committee reviewing 2 articles. The articles are:
Article 6 - Scope (ER)
Article 7 - Classification (ER)
Article 12 - Union-Management Relations (ER)
Article 16 - Non-Bargaining Unit Employees and Inflight Duties (ER)
Article 20 – Sick and Personal Leave (UN)
Article 25 - Language Qualifications (ER)
Article 28 – Uniforms (UN)
Article 34 – Scheduling (ER)
Article 35 – Reserve (ER)
Article 39 – Training (ER)
Article 49 – Severance (ER)
While discussions have continued and some movement has occurred on a number of articles, overall progress has been slower than anticipated. The majority of outstanding articles remain with the Company and require action on their part before meaningful progress can be made; your Bargaining Committee remains committed to achieving meaningful improvements and will continue to evaluate all available avenues to advance negotiations. As of this week, we remain at 35 articles agreed to in principle.
As bargaining moves forward, your support remains essential to the work being done at the bargaining table. You can continue to show your support by:
Getting involved with the WestJet Encore Member Engagement Committee. Members interested in participating are encouraged to keep an eye out for upcoming activities and initiatives. Sign-up here.
Ensuring your fellow CCMs have signed up to receive Union Emails through https://wjcomponent.ca/email-signup
Remaining engaged and united throughout the bargaining process by wearing your union pin and unpaid work luggage tags.
Members are also encouraged to follow, like, and share our Facebook and Instagram content.
We ARE Encore
WestJet Encore Bargaining Committee
Alia Hussain - alia.hussain@wjcomponent.ca
Jennifer Kuhnert - jennifer.kuhnert@wjcomponent.ca
Natasha Selby - natasha.selby@wjcomponent.ca
Maria Gaw - maria.gaw@wjcomponent.ca