WestJet cabin crews issue warning

Travellers leaving Winnipeg got an unexpected view Tuesday — a line of silent WestJet flight attendants, wearing sunglasses and holding signs protesting unfair wages.

“Ready to Strike” and “Unpaid Work Won’t Fly!” boards faced passersby hurrying into the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport’s departures level.

Some 66 Manitoba-based WestJet workers stood silently outside the terminal for a half-hour, before noon.

Elsewhere, their colleagues cast strike votes. Some 4,400 flight attendants across Canada began voting July 9; the vote closes today.

“The fact of the matter is, is when I go to work, I’m not paid for all the hours that I’m at work,” Rena Kisfalvi, a WestJet flight attendant, said Tuesday.

She and colleagues say they’re seeking a fair contract. They’ve been without a deal since Dec. 31.

Bargaining between the Alberta-based airline and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 8125, which represents the flight attendants, began in September. The federal labour minister assigned conciliators to assist in negotiations in May, according to WestJet.

Its flight attendants could strike as early as Aug. 2, depending on vote results and ongoing contract talks.

They’re paid during the time planes leave and arrive at airport gates. WestJet says the pay compensates cabin crews for work done on the ground: security checks, boarding processes and pre-flight briefings.

Tyson Conrod is among the WestJet flight attendants feeling shorted. He’s also CUPE 8125’s Winnipeg base vice-president.

Flight attendants work an average 35 hours per month unpaid, Conrod said.

“We’re committed to getting those gaps closed in our collective agreement, so that all of our cabin crew are paid fairly and equitably,” he said. “We don’t want to get to a place where we’re on strike … We’re hoping that the company is just as committed as we are to sit down at the table and come to a fair contract.”

Between 20 and 24 WestJet flights leave Winnipeg daily, depending on the season, Conrod said. The company employs 255 cabin crew at its Winnipeg base.

A strike is “not going to be a pretty picture,” said John Gradek, a faculty lecturer with McGill University’s aviation management program.

WestJet is Canada’s second-largest airline, behind Air Canada. Around 65,000 to 75,000 passengers might fly WestJet during a given summer day, Gradek said.

Airlines must find customers new transportation in 48 hours of their strike-affected flight or provide a refund. The number of available plane seats is already limited, Gradek said, and WestJet is “notoriously slow” at refund processing.

“If you’ve been travelling and you’ve got a hotel reservation, you’ve got a car rental reservation … you’re not going to get covered for any of those expenses,” he added.

WestJet is focused on reaching an agreement “that recognizes the contributions and professionalism of our cabin crew, while making sure WestJet remains competitive and sustainable,” a company spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Air Canada flight attendants went on strike for three days last summer. Around 130,000 customers could be disrupted daily, Air Canada said at the time.

CUPE led that strike. It seems to be following a similar playbook with WestJet, Gradek said: hold solidarity demonstrations ahead of time and place a strike date in the middle of a busy season.

Air Canada flight attendants are now paid specifically for ground duties, which they sought. Pay starts at half their hourly wage and, over time, rises to 70 per cent. The change was in addition to general pay hikes.

“It’s a ‘me too’ clause that WestJet flight attendants are looking to bring into their contract,” Gradek said, adding he thinks WestJet flight attendants will get their wish. “They’ve got public opinion on their side.”

In the Winnipeg airport on Tuesday, Rowan Jordan and Erin Movold shared support for WestJet workers. The pair were catching a WestJet flight out of the city, post-folk festival.

“I’d always prefer that the people that are responsible for my well-being while I’m in the air are comfortable and being fairly compensated for their work,” Movold said. “I feel more safe knowing that they’re happy.”

Jordan, who regularly travels from Ontario to Halifax for school, called it “absurd” flight attendants aren’t paid while on the ground.

She was echoed by Kevin Rebeck, president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour. He called the set-up “unreasonable.”

Meantime, Jesse Mack began thinking about alternate ways to travel between Winnipeg and Fort McMurray, Alta. next month. He was boarding a WestJet plane Tuesday to his Alberta job.

The engineer travels home to Winnipeg every three weeks via WestJet.

“I’d be quite hard-pressed to get back and forth to work,” Mack said. “I’m assuming that if they were on strike and everybody was trying to get a flight with Air Canada, there probably wouldn’t be anything, or much left available.”

WestJet says its cabin crew earn between $28.45 and $53.61 per hour. Its cabin managers are paid between $37.54 and $69.69 hourly.

The Winnipeg Airports Authority will work with all involved parties to “support the safe and efficient operation of the airport” if a strike occurs, spokeswoman Kerilee Falloon wrote in a statement.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.