The union representing WestJet pilots will launch a strike authorization vote Monday as contract talks with administration drag on, the Air Line Pilots Association stated Friday.
Bernard Lewall, who heads ALPA Canada’s WestJet contingent, stated its 1,600-person membership is “frustrated” after six months of bargaining with an organization he claims has failed to noticeably have interaction with it.
The points revolve round wages, scheduling and work situations at WestJet and its low cost subsidiary Swoop, with 39 pilots opting to depart for different airways prior to now month alone, Lewall stated 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 stated, 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 stated 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 stated in an e-mail.
Lewall stated their wages stay properly beneath the North American trade normal. Meanwhile, pilots are being requested to spend extra time away from dwelling. “We’re already away from our families half the month.”
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If profitable, the 15-day authorization vote would set the stage for the bargaining crew 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 wrestle to shore up backside strains badly dented by the pandemic.
One stumbling block is “equal pay for equal work,” stated Lewall.
Currently, pilots who fly beneath the Swoop banner are paid lower than those that fly for WestJet. With the corporate’s takeover of leisure service Sunwing accepted by the federal authorities on March 10, Lewall stated the union is anxious it might result in the creation of 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 stated.
Meanwhile, round 100 pilots protest Friday on the WestJet headquarters forward of the vote Monday.
“We need better conditions at the negotiating at the bargaining table,” Lewall stated among the many pilots Friday.
“Now we want to show the management and the executive team that our pilots are unified, we have a resolve, and we want a good contract that will again attract new pilots and retain the experienced once that we have.”
Proposed final March, the Sunwing acquisition will see Calgary-based WestJet bolster its trip bundle choices because it provides the tour operator to its fleet, although the 2 manufacturers will probably 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 workers.
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.
-With information from Nick Blakeney
The put up WestJet pilots to launch strike authorization vote as negotiations fizzle appeared first on CityNews Calgary.
Source: calgary.citynews.ca