All over Canada, travelers heaved a collective sigh of relief this week as WestJet and its flight crew announced the conclusion of a short, but disruptive, strike. The agreement, finalized this morning, gets hundreds of flight attendants back to work and the airline operational once again. The walkout started right after the clock struck midnight on Sunday when the Canadian Union of Public Employeesrepresenting some 4,400 WestJet flight attendantswalked off the job.
The timing could not have been worse. The August long weekend is arguably the most popular time of the summer to travel, and the quick shutdown left some 250,000 travelers running around, trying to find alternatives. WestJet had begun taking cancellations before the deadline, and some 600 flights had already been canceled when the strike hit.
What was fundamentally driving the conflict was a day to day frustration with the current method of calculating flight attendant wages. Under the former payment systemcalled the flight credit modelyou could be doing an enormous amount of work while on the ground before take off and after landing on a flight, and these tasks wouldn’t be reflected in your paycheck. Cabin crew pointed out that they were working for free if they were packing cabins, working with customers and (post flight) cleaning up.Still, WestJet argued that the former approach did have enhanced wages for the trips, but the difference was just too great. Negotiations stretched on for months.
Representatives for both sides were to be exchanging offers even in the last few days before the deadline, the airline submitting what it called an ”historic” proposal, including a double digit wage rise in the first year, and smaller increases Next, as well as a new premium to be paid for every hour worked on the ground in a duty period. the union rejected it because it ”has not addressed the full scope of our work”. Once the strike was underway talks recommenced and an agreement was announced early Monday morning.
Per union leaders, the agreement was “a real step forward.” It takes the old flight credit program and builds on it by including new credit for additional work done by the flight attendants (like that they have always performed but have not been paid for), new general and non-credit increases.
The workers’ approval vote is needed before it became ratified But, and both the strike and lockout notices issued by the company were rescinded paving the way for the attendants to re-board the aircraft. WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said everyone was relieved with the breakthrough and apologized to guests whose arrangements had been disrupted. Teams at the airline are now working to return to normal as fast and as safely as possible. The airline has also announced that it would be maintaining its flexible change policy through to August 6, enabling passengers whose flights were cut short in response to the strike to rebook or cancel without a fee. Some further cancellations are expected in this days while the fleet is re-positioned around the system.
