WestJet pilots to launch strike authorization vote as negotiations fizzle
The union representing WestJet pilots will launch a strike authorization vote Monday as contract talks with administration drag on, the Air Line Pilots Association mentioned Friday.
Bernard Lewall, who heads ALPA Canada’s WestJet contingent, mentioned its 1,600-person membership is “frustrated” after six months of bargaining with an organization he claims has failed to noticeably interact with it.
The points revolve round wages, scheduling and work circumstances at WestJet and its low cost subsidiary Swoop, with 39 pilots opting to go away for different airways up to now month alone, Lewall mentioned in a cellphone interview from Calgary.
“WestJet used to be a place where young pilots wanted to come and work. That’s not the case anymore. It’s not just more experienced pilots that are leaving; you have new pilots looking at other places to fly too,” he mentioned, forward of a union demonstration at WestJet headquarters on the Calgary airport.
“We want to show that the company has to treat its pilots better.”
WestJet mentioned the specter of a strike is a “common and expected tactic” within the negotiation course of.
“However, that does not mean a strike will occur. WestJet is committed to this process and will continue to work with ALPA to reach a collective agreement that provides value to our current and future pilots, is sustainable for the company and avoids disruption to our guests,” spokeswoman Madison Kruger mentioned in an electronic mail.
Lewall mentioned their wages stay effectively beneath the North American trade commonplace. Meanwhile, pilots are being requested to spend extra time away from house. “We’re already away from our families half the month.”
If profitable, the 15-day authorization vote would set the stage for the bargaining workforce to name a strike following a three-week “cooling-off period,” which in flip would start after the continued federal conciliation course of wraps up April 24.
That means the union might go on strike or lockout by the May lengthy weekend, which historically kicks off the summer season journey season.
The strike mandate vote comes amid a extreme pilot scarcity as airways battle to shore up backside strains badly dented by the pandemic.
One stumbling block is “equal pay for equal work,” mentioned Lewall.
Currently, pilots who fly below the Swoop banner are paid lower than those that fly for WestJet. With the corporate’s takeover of leisure service Sunwing permitted by the federal authorities on March 10, Lewall mentioned the union is anxious it might result in the creation of yet one more class of pilots with a distinct pay scale.
“We could find ourselves in a place where there would be three airlines basically within WestJet who are all operating the same aircraft for different wages and with different conditions,” he mentioned.
Proposed final March, the Sunwing acquisition will see Calgary-based WestJet bolster its trip package deal choices because it provides the tour operator to its fleet, although the 2 manufacturers can be marketed individually.
Poised for completion within the subsequent few weeks, the takeover marks a significant consolidation of the Canadian aviation market following a tumultuous yr for journey.
WestJet pilots first unionized in May 2017, signalling a significant shift in tradition on the famously non-union airline.
Since then, different worker teams on the firm have additionally unionized, together with flight attendants and sure airport staff.
The pilots’ first union contract, which expired on the finish of final yr, was the results of an arbitrated settlement reached in 2018. That deal averted a threatened strike, as WestJet pilots had voted in favour of job motion after contract talks fell aside.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 31, 2023.
