Photo: BriYYZ / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
CALGARY, Alberta – Flight attendants at WestJet Encore, the airline’s regional carrier, have filed a notice of dispute with the Canadian federal government asking for a conciliator to help resolve stalled contract negotiations, their union, CUPE 8125, said Monday. It is not a strike notice, and the union did not announce any job action or flight cancellations.
The union says Encore’s 360 flight attendants are seeking an end to unpaid work, pay in line with flight attendants at WestJet’s mainline, and improvements to what it calls challenging working conditions. It says much of the essential ground work attendants perform before, during and after flights goes unpaid. Those are the union’s claims.
“Many of the issues we’re working to resolve at Encore were already addressed in the Mainline agreement ratified this summer,” CUPE 8125 President Alia Hussain said, adding that Encore cabin crew “remain among the lowest-paid flight attendants in Canada.” “The ball is in WestJet’s court,” she said. CUPE 8125 represents about 4,700 WestJet flight attendants in all. This is separate regional-carrier bargaining from the mainline deal, which flight attendants ratified earlier this year.
Under the federal process, a government-appointed conciliator works with both sides for up to 60 days. If there is no agreement, a 21-day cooling-off period follows, after which either side may issue a 72-hour strike or lockout notice.
Why it matters: a labor dispute at the carrier that flies WestJet’s regional routes would matter to travelers, though nothing in the union’s announcement points to disruption now. Still unknown: WestJet’s response, which was not included in the union’s statement, and whether the two sides will reach a deal during conciliation.
Archival photo: a WestJet Encore Bombardier Dash 8 Q400. Credit: BriYYZ, CC BY-SA 2.0. It is not a picture of the dispute.
JBizNews Desk | Calgary, Alberta
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