Bargaining Update #7

Dear Members,

Last week your Bargaining Committee continued collective negotiations in Vancouver from Monday through Thursday.

The week got off to an unexpected start early Monday morning. Jeff Martin contacted our Local 4070 President to advise the Union that he had made two significant organizational changes. He advised Chris that VP Guest Experience, Louis Saint Cyr and VP Crew Resources, Scott Groh were no longer with the Company, effective immediately.

Greg Orth, Director lnflight, now the senior leader of the department, reached out to Chris Rauenbusch, President CUPE Local 4070, to state his intentions of forging a harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship. This expression of positive relations was reciprocated by Union leadership. Greg and Chris plan to meet soon to discuss the next steps towards a renewed relationship.

Due to these circumstances, bargaining began slightly behind schedule on Monday mid-morning. With the absence of Louis and Scott at the table, Jason Begley, Director of Labour Relations, has assumed the role of senior negotiations lead for the Employer. Two articles were presented by the Union for potential agreement prior to commencing the Scheduling Articles:

• Travel Privileges & Jumpseat Access

• Commuting (re-tabled after a previous logistical delay)

By Monday afternoon, with overall positive back-and-forth counter proposals, we reached and signed off on the following Articles as a Tentative Agreement:

• Travel Privileges & Jumpseat Access

We achieved one item in particular that was a priority for us, and which will positively impact our Commuters.

Tuesday morning saw the re-tabling of the Commuting Article. This Article was previously ‘paused’ as various experts were scheduled to come in for the last round of bargaining to address Health & Safety. Throughout Tuesday, both sides presented offers and counteroffers; exploring the needs of both the Union and the Employer. Some inroads were made, yet by the end of day, the Employer was unwilling to move on one specific part of the Article that the Union views as the basis upon which the rest of the Article hinges. This divergence on this clause caused us to reach an impasse on the Commuting Article. The Union will not agree to an Article with a clause that could potentially negate the validity of the entire Article at the behest of the Employer at any time during the term of the Collective Agreement. We stand firmly behind our Commuters and will continue to do so. This Article is now ‘parked’ until later in Collective Bargaining as there was no movement possible at this time.

Wednesday morning saw the first Scheduling Articles brought to the table. Both sides shared proposals for the Reserve Article. We started off relatively aligned in the concept, however, there were many terms we could not agree to. The Committee spent the rest of the day in caucus, away from the Employer, determining an appropriate counter-proposal - this continued into Thursday morning. The Reserve topic is extremely complex in terms of what is being negotiated regarding the reserve system moving forward in the Collective Agreement, and the Committee debated internally on many issues. The full impact of any counter-proposal needed to be weighed and examined before an offer back to the Employer could be made. There are significant changes from the status quo being tabled by both sides, and proper diligence is required on every facet of what is being agreed to.

At 10:15PT on Thursday morning, the Union’s counter-proposal was presented to the Employer. The other side was engaged and took our presentation seriously, asking for clarification on several clauses. They took our ideas away to make some changes, and these were tabled to the Union by 14:40PT. There was progress made on the Employer’s counter to us, however, after caucus by the Bargaining Committee, there remained areas that we need to see more movement on to ensure this programme will be workable for our membership. The Union began working on another counter-proposal to present back, however, the day concluded with the counter proposal not yet complete. The Reserve Article will continue to be negotiated at Round 8 in Calgary this Wednesday through Friday.

It should come as no secret or surprise that bargaining had recently become somewhat contentious, with the atmosphere in the room showing signs of decay. The Employer had become, in our view, less and less open to hearing our perspectives and the reasoning behind why we were presenting certain things, or why we could not agree to others.

In an effort to provide clarity to our membership: the tone at the table changed significantly this week. In the view of the Committee, the tone, approach and demeanour with which the Employer interacted with us was felt to have made a major turn for the better. There were many back-and-forths, and another article was ‘parked,’ however, this is normal in Collective Bargaining. All of our concerns were legitimately being heard and respected, even where disagreements remained. The most recent counter brought to us by the Employer demonstrated significant willingness to hear our issues, and make a meaningful effort to address many of them. We take this development as a positive sign.

Although this refreshed atmosphere at the table is new, we will not take for granted that it will continue indefinitely. The Committee is cautiously optimistic that we can begin to develop a better relationship with the Employer.

Round 8 of Bargaining will take place Wednesday, September 18th to Friday, September 20th in Calgary, and continue to deal with Reserve as well as Scheduling.

If you have any questions about the Collective Bargaining process, please engage your Mobilizing Team at: weare4070@gmail.com

In Solidarity,
Your CUPE 4070 Bargaining Committee

Organizational Structure Change

Dear Members,

You may have seen Jeff Martin’s Organizational Structure change update earlier today.

With the departure of Louis Saint Cyr, and Scott Groh from WestJet effective immediately, we wish to assure our Membership that Collective Bargaining continues as normal today, and into the future.

CUPE Local 4070 President Chris Rauenbusch spoke on the phone with Jeff Martin prior to this announcement earlier this morning. The discussion focused on the context behind this change, and more importantly that the Employer is committed to maintaining negotiations as scheduled. Jeff advised that he made it pointedly clear to those at the bargaining table on the Employer's side, now led by Jason Begley, Director Labour Relations, that they have his full authority and confidence to make the decisions necessary.

Bargaining is in progress in Vancouver presently, despite a small delayed start this morning.

All articles tentatively agreed to in negotiations remain tentatively agreed to for the remainder of the bargaining process.

If you have any questions related to this change, please e-mail info.cupe4070@gmail.com

DON’T FORGET! YVR Base Meeting this Thursday at 19:00 at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport in Richmond.

In Solidarity,

Your CUPE 4070 Executive Team

It's Time To Talk About Pay

Dear Members,

A Message From Your VP:

I’ve been having a lot of thoughts about the recent transition to a semi-monthly pay-system. In addition to the slew of emails I’ve received from members concerned about the impact on their personal finances, I’ve been forced to sit down and really think about what this transition to a different pay system means for us. 

It was our hope, when this solution was presented, that it would rectify the longstanding issues we’ve had with our paycheques. Hours missing, block growth not properly calculated, pairing pickups being overlooked... All of this occurred as a result of a very short reconciliation period between the end of a two-week pay period, and the payday Friday. The amount of time to reconcile everyone’s pay and get paycheques out was limited, which resulted in a higher margin of error. The new pay system rectifies all of these issues by providing crew pay with a longer reconciliation period, the result of which will be fewer errors on your paycheques.

But the transition has sparked an interesting debate, one that has led me to realize there are two entirely separate issues at play here.

What if the issue we are looking at, now that we’ve rectified the ongoing pay errors, is the fact that your average, middle-of-the-pack Flight Attendant is living paycheque-to-paycheque? Or that your top-end Flight Attendant hardly makes any more money than they did 10, even 15 years ago? 

We know that this is not an issue unique to Flight Attendants. In fact, the average income of workers in Canada has not seen a dramatic shift at any time in the last forty years. In 1980, according to Statistics Canada, the average annual income for Canadians was $38,800.00. By 2016, it had barely moved, sitting at $45,400.00. 

By comparison, the cost of housing and associated costs of living have risen to a point where they are completely disproportionate to the median income. One only needs to go back to 2005, when, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the price of your average home in Canada sat around $225,000.00. When you compare that to the average price of over $500,000.00 in 2019, it’s no wonder workers are feeling the strain now more than ever. 

So let me make a bold suggestion, that perhaps we are missing the forest for the trees here. Perhaps, our frustration at the financial implications of this pay system transition is misdirected. Perhaps the real issue, is that we do not make enough money. We do not make the kind of money we need to live a lifestyle that was within reach ten, or twenty years ago.

And let me make an even bolder suggestion:

Like so many of the pressing issues that we face as a society, this one will only get worse. If we do not take action now to ensure that workers are getting a fair shake, we will continue to see the average Canadian’s financial situation worsen. We will continue to make less money than we need, and the gap between our income and the cost of living will spread to an insurmountable point, while the debts we carry grow, and our retirement savings get used up in a feeble attempt to live comfortably and provide for our families. 

So maybe, just maybe, instead of demanding that our pay system be reverted to the problem-ridden system we just got rid of, we start demanding real change. Perhaps we start demanding that corporations pay employees their fair share, not only here, but across the country. 

Surely we deserve, at the very least, to be able to afford to live comfortably, day-to-day, without having to depend on overtime or a second job to pay the bills. We should be able to maintain a healthy work-life balance, while supporting our families and putting aside enough money to retire at a healthy age.

In summary, I firmly support the change in pay structure, as does the rest of your Executive. We believe that this is the best solution to the ongoing pay issues that have dogged us for years. With that being said, I hear the Members loud and clear when they tell me they are struggling to get by, I just wonder whether the new pay system is really to blame for that. If we didn’t depend on Per-Diem to form a part of our overall income, and instead, relied on it to replace the cost of food while we are travelling for work (as it was intended before workers in our industry became increasingly underpaid), we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. It is my sincerest hope that we are approaching a point where, as workers, not only in airlines, but across the country, we can wake up to the hard truth:

We don’t make the kind of money we need to get by. And at the end of the day, when it comes to how we are paid, it doesn’t matter how many slices you cut it into, if there’s not enough pie to share, people are going to be hungry.

I hope I have expressed my reflections on this topic appropriately, and would love to begin to bring this discussion to the forefront of our minds as we move forward together.

In Solidarity,

Jamie Loiselle, 

Vice President, CUPE 4070

---

To see the statistics referenced in the above post, follow the links below:

[on average annual income]

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1110023901#timeframe

[on average mortgage costs]

https://creastats.crea.ca/natl/index.html

Happy Labour Day WestJet!

Dear Members,

Happy Labour Day!

We wanted to share a Labour Day message with you from our President, Chris Rauenbusch:

This Labour Day is truly historic. It is the first Labour Day in the history of WestJet Inflight that we have a functioning Union Local, and are 4,000 strong across all WestJet Group brands. I simply wish to say “thank you,” and provide you with a quick update on the Canada Labour Code (CLC) changes which technically came into effect yesterday, September 1st.

Thank you. Thank you to our members who joined us during the certification drive, and helped certify CUPE as our legally recognized trade union. Thank you to all members who have joined us every day since our certification to engage in your Union. Thank you to all of the volunteers, who have gotten involved in shaping its future. I also wish to thank those who have yet to join the Membership. I am aware that building a union is a long term commitment, and it is not for the faint of heart! Building the trust of every last person in the bargaining unit will not be accomplished in one year, or two. I do however thank you for remaining a professional, committed to the success of our Employer, and open to judging the union by it’s actions as we move forward.

My goal, and I know it is shared by the entire Executive of CUPE Local 4070, is that we continue to build trust daily, with every single CCM we represent. In solidarity, we will create a better workplace, and a more successful WestJet. Thank you to every single one of you, the CCMs of the WestJet Group.

Now to update you on the CLC changes and the Union’s efforts to protect our members’ rights as intended by the Federal Government:

As your President, I was deeply involved in the document (PDF attached) that was submitted in rebuttal to the Employer’s misleading submission to Employment & Social Development Canada on August 14th. Our rebuttal was submitted to the Government last week, on behalf of every single flight attendant under the CUPE umbrella.

As of now, Federal Minister Patty Hajdu has indicated that certain interim exemptions would apply — at least until further tweaks can be made after the October election — but she acknowledged that the government was still hammering out who they will ultimately include.

To be clear with you, our Members:

As per Minister Hajdu, our workplace is currently under ‘interim’ exemptions, so your work rules remain status quo, you must proceed as we are accustomed. Given that the Minister has indicated this won’t be addressed until following October’s Federal Election, please be aware, there will not be a quick resolution to this issue.

I commit to keeping you updated as this process unfolds. .Myself and your CUPE 4070 Executive, CUPE National, as well as the CUPE Airline Division, will fight vigorously for our rights in front of the Government, and wherever else necessary. 

If you have any questions on any issue in your workplace, please reach out to info.cupe4070@gmail.com, or myself directly.

To read the letter submitted by the CUPE Airline Division click HERE.

In Solidarity,

Chris