Dear Members,

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude and respect to our Members who worked hard over the holidays, spending time at work, away from family during the busiest week of the year. Those who were able to enjoy time with loved ones owe a heartfelt THANK YOU.

Now that the holiday season is winding down, we would like to provide you with an update on the last round of bargaining.

WestJet Bargaining took place on December 17 - 19 in Calgary. 

Day one started with the Union proposing three articles: Compassionate Transfers, Printing of the Agreement, and Union Communication.

Summary of Article Content:

• Compassionate Transfers: Negotiating terms for instances where a Member may request a short term transfer to a different base due to family/compassionate reasons.

• Printing of the Agreement: Negotiations surrounding the physical format of the printed final Collective Agreement (CA), the distribution of the CA and associated costs, as well as the availability in electronic format of the CA. This article also includes details surrounding the translation of the CA into French.

• Union Communication: Negotiations on how/where the Union can communicate with our Membership on or via Company communication channels and/or in crew rooms.

By the afternoon, the Company returned with counter-proposals on Printing of the Agreement and Union Communication. Their counter-proposals required some further work on the Union’s side in order to bring them to a place where we could agree to sign in Tentative Agreement (TA).

The day concluded with the Company's bargaining team requiring more time to consult with their leadership.

Day two saw further movement on two of these articles, and we subsequently signed TAs on the following:

• Union Communication

• Printing of the Agreement

Following the signing of these articles, the Union presented our proposal of another important article: Hostage, Internment or Death.

Summary of Article Content:

Hostage, Internment, or Death: Defines the terms of pay, pay to designated beneficiary, necessary leave, and/or return to work for an instance where a Member is killed, is missing, or held hostage and/or held for political or other reasons beyond the control of the Member.

Once again, the Company's bargaining team required more time to consult with their leadership. No agreement was reached during this round of negotiations. This Article is planned to resume discussions in 2020.

By the end of day two, the Company proposed their language on the Technological Change Article.

Summary of Article Content:

Technological Change: Outlines the terms and conditions of how any technological change would impact our Membership and what rights each party will have in decision making of the new/revised work rules required. In our business, a new aircraft type is one primary example of a technological change. As your representation, we plan to ensure that our rights are properly documented in the Collective Agreement, should a technological change impact our Membership.

The Union took this article away and developed an appropriate counter-proposal, which provided greater assurance for our Members that the Union will have meaningful and significant involvement on your behalf, in the event of any technological change we may face. 

Day three saw the Employer return a counter-proposal on the Hostage, Internment, or Death Article. This proposal had many changes, including the removal of several of our proposed concepts; as a result, we could not agree to the counter-proposal. The Union will review this article further, and potentially present another counter-proposal in the next round of bargaining.

Following this, the Union presented the Employer with a counter-proposal on the Technological Change Article. In exchange for a significant ask from the Company, the Union proposed a significant gain for our Membership. 

The Company refused to entertain this discussion at this stage of Collective Bargaining, and as a result, the Union determined that all discussion on this article would be suspended for the time being.

The Technological Change Article is now ‘parked’ until the Company is prepared to entertain our position, and both sides agree it is suitable to revisit. The Union is extremely firm that our proposal is fair and workable. We have no intention of changing our viewpoint.

The next round of Collective Bargaining for the WestJet Collective Agreement will take place January 6 - 10 in Calgary.

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