Airlines

WestJet Cabin Crew Officially Unionized

It’s official, about 3,000 of WestJet’s cabin crew members are now unionized after the Canada Industrial Relations Board issued an interim order naming the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) as the certified bargaining unit for employees.

In a statement issued yesterday (July 31), WestJet confirmed it received an interim certification order from CUPE as the certified bargaining agent for WestJet cabin crew members.

The interim certification order does not include members of Encore or Swoop cabin crew within the scope of the bargaining unit.

“We are disappointed by this outcome, but respect the rights of our employees to choose their representation,” said Ed Sims, WestJet president and CEO. “We now shift our focus to working effectively with CUPE in the interest of success for WestJet as a whole.”
The interim nature of the order allows WestJet to make submissions by Aug. 10 on the exclusion of certain positions from the scope of the bargaining unit.