Dear Members,

Your Bargaining Committee met with the Employer for Round 10 of Collective Bargaining in Vancouver from October 21 to 25.

As we communicated in the previous Bargaining Update, the entire week in Vancouver was set aside entirely for the Scheduling Article, continued from Round 9 of Bargaining.

The Scheduling Article is lengthy and complex. It contains all the rules around how our schedules can be planned and modified, including bidding, rest, and duty parameters.

This Article contains over 30 clauses, many of which are extremely detailed, and your Committee is conscious of the expectations of the Membership with regards to Scheduling. There are many areas of the Article where we simply will not compromise, and maintain that our Membership expects improvements. We have been firm at the bargaining table: we will not bend on these issues.

The CUPE 4070 WestJet Bargaining Committee convened Sunday evening to finalize our counter proposal to the Company. Our counter was finalized and presented to the Company mid-morning on Monday.

The entire week was spent presenting or receiving numerous counter proposals, listening to the needs of each side and trying to generate solutions.

It is fair to say that despite not reaching a final Tentative Agreement on the Scheduling article, significant progress was made and we closed this 5-day round of bargaining by presenting a “package deal” to the Company on Friday Afternoon. This process involves addressing certain issues important to one side, while making gains for the side presenting. Unless the content of the full package is agreed to, all parts of the deal are off the table.

The Scheduling Article proposal by the Union will potentially be responded to in Round 11 of Collective Bargaining next week, November 4 to 8. The Company has not yet informed us of their plan.

If you have any questions about the Collective Bargaining process, please engage your Mobilizing Team at: weare4070@gmail.com


In Solidarity,
Your CUPE 4070 WestJet Bargaining Committee