Bargaining between WestJet and the union representing its flight attendants was due to resume Monday after the 4,400 members of CUPE 8125 voted 99% in favour of authorizing a strike if they are unable to reach a new deal on contract demands. A question mark dangling over the ongoing WestJet talks is how Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government might intervene.
“The sticking point right now for us is unpaid work and how our wage is triggered. In addition to that, it’s our actual wage rate,” said Alia Hussain, who chairs the union’s WestJet contingent, outside the Calgary airport last week. “We believe that there is a large amount of unpaid work, which is why this remains an outstanding issue at the bargaining table.”
Ground pay remains a major point of contention at WestJet after Air Canada flight attendants in February secured compensation for ground work that will climb to 70% of their hourly rate for the hour before takeoff – also known as boarding pay.
Hours after some Air Canada flight attendants went on strike over what they deemed unpaid work last August, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu directed the country’s labour board to order them back on the job. The union defied the order, forcing Air Canada back to the bargaining table where the parties hashed out a tentative deal.
Members rejected it in a vote, and the impasse was eventually settled after the parties agreed to enter into binding arbitration, resulting in partial compensation for ground work.
The union has a strong incentive to push for some measure of ground pay as a way to secure the gains it won at Air Canada, said Steven Tufts, an associate professor of labour at York University.
“If CUPE fails to spread the pattern of ground pay to other airlines in Canada – that means Air Transat, that means WestJet – the one at Air Canada is put at risk,” he said. “This is something that flight attendants have been building towards for over a decade.”
Worker rights advocates have criticized proposed changes to the Canada Labour Code as a bid to weaken collective bargaining, he noted.
“It’s really about signalling that Canada is open for business,” Tufts said. “That’s where I think this is a test case, and actually it could be a very important labour battle. The real story is, what’s Carney going to do?”
The union must give 72 hours’ notice before going on strike. With the end of the conciliation phase of negotiations, a 21-day cooling-off period kicked off on July 12. That means the Westjet cabin crew could go on strike as soon as Aug. 2 – during a long weekend in most of the country.
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