Air

TORONTO –In light of the changes the Canadian government announced yesterday – on Sept. 26, 2022 – to drop all COVID-19 travel requirements beginning Oct. 1, 2022, Unifor is calling for ongoing and vigilant attention to the health, safety and respect of workers in that industry.

By Kaylie Tiessen

Air travellers are frustrated, and for good reason.  A shortage of workers in the industry has clashed with rapidly returning demand for air travel to create cascading flight delays, lost luggage, cancellations and other disruptions at airports around the world.

These problems have been experienced at airports around the world, but Canada’s airports have been the worst.

TORONTO- Unifor National President Lana Payne wrote to Minister Alghabra today to offer clear solutions to the issues plaguing Canada’s airports with cancellations and delays.

“Aviation workers are listening intently to government, and so far the Minister has not shared an accurate description of the problem or common sense solutions. Aviation employers have cut jobs and continue to drive down wages in the industry, and it’s up to the federal government to change the rules to protect workers and travelers,” said Payne.

Honourable Omar Alghabra, P.C., M.P. Minister of Transport

Dear Minister Alghabra,

I am writing today to discuss the grave situation that continues to unfold at Canada’s airports.

Your deposition at the Parliamentary Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities on August 19 2022 was eye opening. The narrative of the opposition that nothing has been done to alleviate the issue is simply not true. The government narrative that enough has been done is not true either.

Biometrics scans at airport security, touchless check-ins and self-flying airplanes are among some of the technology that already is, or could be, on the horizon for aviation workers.

At Unifor’s two-day Aviation Council – held ahead of the union’s Convention at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this week – the focus was how new technology affects aviation workers.

“We need to be careful to make sure it doesn’t erode the work we do,” Leslie Dias, Unifor’s Director of Airlines, said in her opening remarks. 

CALGARY – Newly unionized WestJet workers in Calgary and Vancouver have ratified a first contract that gives members at least a 13% wage increase, their first increase in five years.

CALGARY – WestJet workers in Calgary and Vancouver have reached a tentative first collective agreement, avoiding any service interruptions in advance of Tuesday’s strike deadline.

“This bargaining committee has worked very hard over the last nine months to negotiate this first agreement that brings long overdue wage increases and improvements to working conditions,” said Scott Doherty, lead negotiator and Assistant to the National President.

TORONTO –Transport Canada and the Competition Bureau must consider that WestJet’s acquisition of Sunwing may have a deep and negative effect on Canadian jobs, says Unifor, after filing a public interest submission to Transport Canada on Friday, July 22, 2022.

“Unifor is concerned that, despite the promises made to create jobs, this acquisition will actually lead to more sub-contracted work with lower wages and precarious conditions,” said Scott Doherty, Executive Assistant to Unifor’s National President. “Not only that, the number of jobs may also decline.”

CALGARY – WestJet workers in Calgary and Vancouver have voted overwhelmingly to support the bargaining committee and take strike action if a deal cannot be reached, as early as July 27, 2022, says Unifor.

“The union is fighting for better wages,” said Scott Doherty, Executive Assistant to Unifor’s National President. 

TORONTO – Following a recent bad faith bargaining complaint by Sunwing pilots at the Canada Industrial Relations Board, Sunwing announced that it plans on revoking the company’s Pilot Loss of License insurance as of July 31, 2022, as a cost-cutting measure.