Recall Notice - WestJet (WS) Members

April 27, 2021

Dear Members,

The Union is thrilled to inform you that the Company has advised us of recalls for WestJet (WS) Members in the YYZ base. A communication will be released by the Company later today, and will be effective May 10, 2021 in order to facilitate necessary training to be fully qualified for the planned enhanced WS network flying as the summer months begin.
 
The Company is recalling into each base as necessary for their planned network flying, as per sub article 5.01 of the Layoff and Recall article in the Collective Agreement. While today’s recall is specific to the YYZ base, the Union wishes to assure our Membership that we continue to work with our Employer to bring back Members across all of our bases, and hope to have further positive developments soon. It is anticipated that the Company may be in a position to announce YVR base recalls as early as next week.
 
Sub article 5.05 of the Layoff and Recall article of the Collective Agreement (CA) permits the Company to require an expedited response to a recall notice where “in exceptional circumstances, the Company requires additional Cabin Personnel on short notice and cannot provide the Cabin Personnel with seven (7) Calendar Days to respond to the Notice of Recall as outlined in 47-5.04 above, the Cabin Personnel will have forty-eight (48) hours from the date the email was sent to the Cabin Personnel to respond to the Company.”
 
In this instance due to significant training requirements, the Company will be using this 48-hour requirement for response to the recall notices.
 
The company will also be issuing contingency recall notices above and beyond their requirements in order to fill any vacancies due to Members that may wish to decline their recall notice. These notices will be indicated as such.
 
Please know that schedules will be assigned at the Company’s discretion and they have informed the Union that Cabin Personnel recalled in May will likely see a high number of reserve days assigned to them for the month of May due to the uncertainty of the federal government’s Covid response. Members accepting recall in this round will be able to bid for the June 2021 block month onward.
 
To find out if you are being offered a recall, check the personal email account that you registered with the Company when you began your most recent inactive status: Ensure to check your ‘spam/junk’ folder as well. The Company will provide any official recall notice to this address.
 
Ability to decline recall:
 
As per the Collective Agreement in place between WestJet and CUPE Local 4070, if you are able to hold recall, and recall is offered to you, you may elect to decline a recall and await a future recall. You may opt to decline any recall until such time as there are no other Members junior to you on the list, at which time a decline to recall would be the end of your employment.
 
Company Seniority List vs Master Seniority List:
 
As indicated during the CA ratification process, the Company Seniority List will continue to be utilized for layoff and recall until such time as the new Master Seniority List (MSL) under the CA has been constructed, released, and finalized, following the dispute period.
 
For clarification: This recall will use the Company Seniority List.
 
The work towards construction of the MSL has begun involving both the Union and the Company. We will separately communicate an update on this and other CA implementation progress soon.
 
Your Union is pleased to be able to communicate this positive news today for our YYZ based WS Members. Please be assured that we are in touch daily with the Company, and we hope to be able to bring further positive news for all bases soon. 
 
Despite increasing vaccination rates, please continue to follow all directions related to COVID-19 protocols from the Company and the Union, and use your PPE as appropriate and directed.
 
For concerns or questions related to health and safety, please contact the CUPE 4070 WestJet Health & Safety Committee at: ws.ohs@cupe4070.ca.
 
Additionally, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Union via our contact form: www.cupe4070.ca/contact should you have further questions regarding this recall.
 



In Solidarity,
Your CUPE 4070 Executive Team

National Survey on Harassment and Violence at Work

Dear Members,

As a chartered Local of CUPE, Local 4070 is affiliated with The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). The CLC Women’s Advisory Committee is conducting a national survey on workplace violence and harassment. This survey is open to workers of all genders and results of this research will inform policy and education initiatives on workplace violence and sexual harassment. 

Take the survey now

The survey is being conducted by the Canadian Labour Congress in partnership with research experts at Western University. It is the first ever survey on violence and sexual harassment with a national reach in Canada, and will help unions, employers, and policy makers create safer workplaces for everyone.

This survey is for everyone - whether or not you have experienced or witnessed workplace violence or harassment. It will take approximately 10 to 30 minutes to complete, and all respondents will remain anonymous.

Your participation makes a difference! Thank you for helping make work safer for everyone.

In Solidarity,
Your CUPE 4070 Executive Team

CUPE 4070 General Membership Meeting - May 2021

Dear WestJet Members,

We are excited to announce the next General Membership Meeting (GMM) for CUPE Local 4070. Due to the restrictions created by the pandemic the GMM will be held virtually:

Friday May 21, 2021 

12:00PT / 13:00MT / 15:00ET  - 13:00PT / 14:00MT / 16:00ET

Location: Zoom

All Members In Good Standing (have signed a card and paid the $5 initiation fee) are eligible to participate. The meeting will be 60 minutes and dedicated to the official meeting agenda, and allow motions from the floor.

If you have not signed a card and would like to participate you can sign your card here.

The General Membership Meeting will be held over Zoom Webinar. Information on how to attend will be released in early May.

In Solidarity,
Your CUPE 4070 Executive Team

Union Clarification on Company Announcement re: Eastern Service Resumption

Dear Members,

You may have seen the Company press release and/or media coverage that WestJet and WestJet Encore will be resuming services in June to: Quebec City, Moncton, Fredericton, Charlottetown and Sydney, NS.

The Union was provided a briefing on this news by the Company on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. We would like to share with our Membership the context surrounding this announcement, and its implications for our Membership.

At present, across all three networks, we are only operating approximately 8% of the capacity that we were prior to the pandemic. The resumption of service to these five stations will increase that capacity by only 1%, for a total network capacity of 9% of pre-pandemic levels.

Based on today’s announcement, combined with the fact that current active Members are blocked significantly lower than their minimum monthly guarantee (MMG), the Company has indicated that this news will not result in recalls at any of the three airlines for Cabin Crew or Pilots.

While this news does not immediately mean recalls for our Members, signs of progress and rebuilding are positive, and always welcome.

We will continue to keep you informed as information related to recovery, route or destination returns, and ultimately, recall information becomes known to the Union.

This has been a long and very difficult time for all of our Members, whether active or not. Please know that each of us elected to represent you recognize this, and we will continue to lobby governments on all of our behalf, along with the CUPE Airline Division and with our Employer. We remain hopeful that further into the summer we will see more restrictions lifted and further signs of recovery for our Company and our sector overall.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact us at: www.cupe4070.ca/contact.
 

In Solidarity,
Your CUPE 4070 Executive Team

WestJet Tentative Agreement Ratification Results

Dear WestJet Members,

The voting period in the WestJet (WS) Tentative Agreement ratification process concluded today March 20, 2021 at 15:00PT / 16:00MT / 18:00ET.

The results are as follows:

“Are you in favour of the Tentative Agreement as presented? / Êtes-vous en faveur de l’entente de principe, tel que présenté?”

This Member vote requires 50% plus 1 (one) vote to ratify:

Yes / Oui: 1663 votes (66.8%)

No / Non: 826 votes (33.2%)

The Tentative Agreement is RATIFIED.

All CUPE Local 4070 Members in the WestJet (WS) bargaining unit immediately fall under this binding Collective Agreement (CA).

This Collective Agreement is effective retroactively to March 1, 2021 and remains in full force and effect until December 31, 2025 at 23:59MT.

Following the twenty-day process since reaching a Tentative Agreement (TA) at the negotiating table, the WestJet Bargaining Committee, and the CUPE Local 4070 Executive, along with other elected representatives, congratulate our Membership on ratification of our historic first ever union Collective Agreement.

A specific thank you is due to the many other union representatives who helped throughout the lengthy bargaining process, as well during the ratification process. These include:

• the 4070 Communications Committee members from all three bargaining units: a true team effort.

• all Stewards across our entire network.

• all mobilizers and mobilizing coordinators.

• our five CUPE National representatives.

The work towards full implementation of the changes across every aspect of our employment experience will begin immediately. Certain items such as per diem increases will be retroactive to March 1, 2021. Others will commence as of April 1, 2021 (the first full monthly blocking window following ratification), and some will be phased in as indicated in the implementation schedule that was released to Membership as part of the TA package that was voted on.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact us at: www.cupe4070.ca/contact. If your questions are regarding the CA, and not of an immediate nature, please know that further communications will be released frequently as implementation proceeds.

We are so proud of the engagement and questions that the Membership sent our way over the past weeks. It remains our privilege to represent you. Congratulations.

In Solidarity,
Your CUPE WestJet Bargaining Committee
Your CUPE Local 4070 Executive Team