Dear Members,

A week after WestJet (WS) May schedule release, President Crystal Hill sent a letter to WestJet Management addressing the first seniority scheduling month and the “seniority-based” Preferential Bidding System (PBS) chosen by the Employer.  

Members can read the full letter here.  

Earlier today, Interim Vice-President Brigitte Benoit filed three policy grievances on behalf of all WestJet Members. All three policy grievances address the Seniority Preferential Bidding System.  

Policy Grievance #1 – WS-POL-2022-002 – Failure to Implement
The first policy grievance alleges the following:  

[…] the Employer failed to provide WS Cabin Personnel Preferential Bidding Seniority (PBS), where all schedules will be awarded by a seniority-based model as intended by Article 34 – Scheduling (34-1.02).   

The Union was not involved in acquiring the current “seniority” PBS; selection of the system was done by the Employer alone. There is no language in the Collective Agreement that spoke to collaboration between the Union and the Employer on the system selection process. 

It is also not the Union’s responsibility to pay for any costs associated with software the Employer uses to run their business.  

What the Employer has provided is not a Preferential Bidding System, nor does it respect any Member’s seniority. We understand that this does not come as a surprise to many Members. It does not come as a surprise to us. 

The Union had obvious doubts about the efficacy and legitimacy of the system. Despite running several mock bids, the Employer dismissed the Union’s numerous calls for concern and denied Union access to the system developer resulting in the Employer’s exclusive decision to move forward with implementation of this PBS.  

Our remaining option was to allow the system to do what we anticipated all along, which was to violate the Collective Agreement. Only then could we file a formal grievance. This situation was the largest scale example of “work now, grieve later.” 

Policy Grievance #2 – WS-POL-2022-003 – Failure to Train SRC
The second policy grievance alleges the following:  

[...] the Employer failed to provide adequate training to the Schedule Review Committee on the functionality of the seniority-based preferential bidding system for the purposes of carrying out their duties pursuant to Article 34 – Scheduling (34-2.02).  

The Union believes this to be a clear and direct violation of LOU #1. 

On numerous occasions, the Union has not been satisfied with the answers they have been given about the seniority PBS. Despite many requests to participate in meetings with the system developer, ADopt, the CUPE 4070 WS SRC was advised by the Employer that ADopt was the Employer’s responsibility to deal with.

Today, the CUPE 4070 WS SRC again requested a meeting with the developer. The Employer seemed surprised by this request, and asked "what would be the intent of this meeting," in addition to asking for a predetermined agenda from the CUPE 4070 WS SRC. The Union does not understand why this is a controversial ask of the Employer. 

Last week, the Union became aware that Swoop Members have had this same “seniority” PBS in place since October 2021 and have experienced the very same issues. However, the CUPE 4070 WO SRC is not recognized by the Employer in their Collective Agreement. Responding to disputes related to published Flight Attendant's monthly schedules is solely in the Employer’s purview at Swoop. The Union was made aware of these issues because the WestJet Collective Agreement recognizes the CUPE 4070 WS Scheduling Review Committee. 

Policy Grievance #3 – WS-POL-2022-004 – Failure to Resolve Disputed Monthly Awards 
The third policy grievance alleges the following:  

[…] the Employer failed to provide the WestJet Scheduling Review Committee (SRC) with substantive and specific evidence to adequately evaluate and address disputes related to published cabin crew monthly schedules. Neither the system developer (ADopt) nor the Employer representatives can provide adequate or sufficient information to investigate disputes arising from published monthly schedules, and no timeline has been given as to when this can be resolved.   

Furthermore, the employer has failed to implement the remedies provided in the Collective Agreement prior to the start of the pairings and days-off in dispute.   

This is a violation of Article 34-2.02 and Article 34-2.03 of the Collective Agreement. As it stands, the CUPE 4070 WS SRC is not able to deem a Day off Dispute as valid or invalid with the Reasons Reports the current Seniority PBS publishes.  

You can read more about this issue in our May Newsletter released earlier this month.

The Union will also be following up with Individual Grievances for Members who submitted disputes related to days off. 

We recognize there has been significant expressed frustration and anger posted online directed towards the Union. Please remember that the Union does not negotiate with itself. We are still dealing with the same Employer that resulted in our successful certification in 2018.  

Do not be fooled by the misleading chatter - the Union has budgeted for these fights. We're Ready.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your Union: cupe4070.ca/contact

In Solidarity,
CUPE 4070 President, Crystal Hill
CUPE 4070 Interim Vice-President, Brigitte Benoit