Westjet CEO Warns Employees about Unionization

[Guest]

 

July 13, 2017 3:58 am

WestJet CEO sends email to employees warning against unionization of airline staff

By Ian Bickis The Canadian Press

 

CALGARY – The head of WestJet has stepped up his fight against the growing push to unionize the airline’s staff, telling them to resist organized labour’s pitch because it will chomp into their paycheques.

In an email sent last Thursday to the company’s 12,000 employees, CEO Gregg Saretsky revealed that five unions are now trying to certify several groups of WestJet workers after its pilots agreed in May to join the Air Line Pilots Association.

“Unions are opportunistically trying to grow their businesses by targeting WestJetters,” Saretsky said in the email obtained by The Canadian Press.

“Because let’s be clear – unions are a business. They increase their revenue by recruiting new members, and WestJet represents an opportunity to significantly increase their profits.”

READ MORE: WestJet flight attendants push for unionization

A spokeswoman for WestJet confirmed the authenticity of the email, adding that it’s part of an effort to ensure staff are “armed with the facts” about unionization.

Saretsky took specific aim at union dues, saying WestJet employees stand to pay $16.6 million a year if the unions succeed.

“Money that goes toward union bureaucracy and, in part, to organizing efforts at other companies!” he said.

“They get nearly $17 million of your money, or $425 million of your money over a 25-year career. What do you get? That’s the question we urge you to ask yourselves. Isn’t it better to get a cheque than a bill?”

The president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which is trying to unionize WestJet flight attendants, said Saretsky’s email reflects he is “way out of whack” when it comes to understanding unions.

“He’s trying to intimidate workers,” said Mark Hancock.

“It’s something similar to what we’ve seen out of companies like Walmart, and some of those other big box companies that hate unions, and will say anything to try and scare off workers from joining a union.”

He said CUPE only campaigns at companies after workers approach them, and the benefits it has brought to the 11,500 flight attendants it already represents is a clear rebuttal to Saretsky’s position.

Since it was founded in 1996, WestJet has prided itself on a unique relationship with its employees that allows them to partake in profit sharing and other benefits. But that connection has been tested as the company embarks upon expansion plans that some rank-and-file fear could lead to tougher work conditions and an erosion of benefits.

The unionization drive includes appeals from Unifor, the United Steelworkers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the WestJet Professional Flight Attendants Association. It comes at a time of rapid growth for the airline, which is aiming to launch an ultra-low cost carrier and expand their international flight destinations.

[Guest]

And from the CBC

Multiple union drives on the go at WestJet after pilots vote to certify

Mechanics, customer service workers, flight attendants all working to form unions at the airline

By Tracy Johnson, CBC NewsPosted: Jul 13, 2017 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Jul 13, 2017 5:14 AM ET

There are multiple union drives underway at WestJet including those by Unifor and CUPE, both currently representing workers at Air Canada.

Two months after its pilots voted in favour of joining the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), there are multiple unions working to certify other employees at WestJet.

The WestJet Professional Flight Attendants Association (WPFAA) is an in-house group that been working for three years to certify flight attendants. It now has signed cards from more than 35 per cent of its employee group, enough to trigger a vote.

The association is encouraging past members to renew cards as federal labour laws dictate that if the WPFAA can get 50 per cent plus one of the flight attendants to sign a card, they can certify without a vote.

 

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is also signing up flight attendants, having re-started its drive in the spring. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) is working to organize mechanics and customer service agents, while Unifor is trying to certify call centre and other front-line customer service workers.

All of the unions have been laying the groundwork since before the pilot's vote in May, but the efforts have accelerated in recent months, after the pilot's vote passed with 63 per cent voting to join ALPA.  

"We've been working on it for about two years," said John Aman, head of organizing for Unifor. "But it's been gathering steam recently. I think the fact that the pilots organized was a boost to all the other employees at WestJet that were looking at organizing."

WestJet pushing back

WestJet is pushing back against the drives. In a note sent to employees last week, WestJet's chief executive Gregg Saretsky said the unions are "opportunistically trying to grow their business by targeting WestJetters."

"Because let's be clear — unions are a business. They increase their revenue by recruiting new members and WestJet represents an opportunity to significantly increase their profits."

Labour unions are not-for-profit organizations, but do collect dues from members.

 

The larger case that WestJet is making to its employees is that it is better for them to have a direct relationship with the management of the company, instead having an intermediary, such as a union, speaking for them.

"WestJet is working to ensure that WestJetters are armed with the facts about representation and unions as there has been information provided to our employees that quite simply is not factual," said WestJet spokesperson Lauren Stewart in an email.

"We encourage employees to fact-check, seek answers from knowledgeable sources and make informed decisions when deciding how they would like to be represented in the workplace."

Seniority and scheduling biggest issues

"The issue is scheduling," said Daniel Kufuor-Boakye, who speaks for the internal flight attendants group the WPFAA.

He said it's important to have transparency on when people are called in on reserve and to have consequences for breaching written work rules for both the company and the employees.

"Seniority is the big issue," said Bill Trbovich, head of communications for IAMAW. "You'll have someone who's been working 10 or 12 years and they have to work weekends, and you'll have someone new come in and they only have to work days. It's a hot issue for the senior employees."

WestJet defended its current system to employees saying that "a lack of seniority system was something chosen by WestJetters as a way to honour everyone's contributions in line with our culture."

WestJet built its culture on the idea that employees are owners through profit sharing and employee stock purchase plans and that they act as such. That culture has become stressed as the airline has expanded into multiple bases and types of aircraft, long haul, and no-frills flying.

"We continue to believe that employees and leadership work best together using a model that has been built by WestJet employees for WestJet employees," said Stewart.

[Vsplat]

Interesting read.   Perhaps time for an informed debate about unions, the need for them and the facts about being in one.

A few thoughts from someone who has sat on both sides of the table over the short while I've been in this circus - er - profession.

IMO the best working environment is one where everyone in the enterprise has significant skin in the game and recognises that no one succeeds unless everyone does.  Putting a union into that setting is a mistake, as everyone is doing their best already.  I would say that Westjet would have fit that model in their early years.

As soon as a company stratifies and elite management starts to appear, priorities are vulnerable to division.  As an operation expands and individuals enter at or above the invisible mercator between worker and manager, the personal links, and associated empathy with the bottom level erodes.  The CEO may get the need to stay connected, but they also have to delegate.  The increasingly invisible middle layers, increasingly disconnected, begin the erosion.  Not irreversible at the start, but also hard to spot.

Eventually the company faces some sort of fork in the road that tests their self awareness.  Who are we now?  Who do we want to be?  This, in my view, is the moment of birth for many union movements.  If the workers feel the next steps will be on their backs, they begin to think, perhaps we need protection.  Very hard to turn back from that point.  The company has made its promises and the workers' sentiment is like a stain on the relationship.  From that point on, it is largely a 'when', not 'if' equation, barring a wholesale purge of either the executive suite or the front line.

I am not at Westjet, indeed looking at it from way too far away.  That said, just from the news articles, I wonder if any of the above fits.

FWIW

Vs

[Guest]

Quote

They get nearly $17 million of your money, or $425 million of your money over a 25-year career. What do you get? That’s the question we urge you to ask yourselves. Isn’t it better to get a cheque than a bill?”

The numbers for union membership are interesting but without the actual employee count etc. are meaningless.The inhouse  associations also charge dues so a "real" number would be the difference, if any.  Typical scare tactics IMO. 

[acsidestick]

Well thought out and written VSplat.

[DEFCON]

I'll say! 

 

[Super 80]

The thing that sticks with me is just how little effort WestJet appears to have made to avoid unionization, of course I am similarly baffled by just how little effort either major airline has made to avoid new regulation.

Whether this is a product of fatalism, myopia, certain people who don't appear to be very good at listening or 3D chess that I am just too stupid to understand I am not sure.

Honda USA has probably been the most effective large employer anywhere at keeping unions out, in Ohio no less. But that isn't the product of tone-deaf indifference and condescending talking points. 

[internet]

Join a company knowing it isn't unionized. Then try to unionize it once you're there.

If you don't like it - leave - there are tens of thousands of people that will do it knowing what the conditions are 

 

[Guest]

Just now, internet said:

Join a company knowing it isn't unionized. Then try to unionize it once you're there.

If you don't like it - leave - there are tens of thousands of people that will do it knowing what the conditions are 

 

I think the current strike at BA is an great example of , you know what you are buying but once in.......

[Vsplat]

Internet, some might argue that Westjet is not the same company it was when they joined.  It now has a feeder (Encore), is looking to go long haul and even create an ULCC.  None of that was advertised on the date of hire, at least not as far as I am aware.

Vs

[anonymous]

This email from the upper echelons sounds like a scared man who has lost his "grip" on the wheel and has now resorted to the basest of emotions - fear.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave in the not-too distant future. The fumbles that have occurred in the last couple of years, the presence of a union with possibly 3 or 4 more to come.

I suspect the BoD is watching very closely.

[rudder]

The adage is that an employer gets the union that it deserves.

Let's see what WJ gets. But these CEO comments do not bode well.

[Jaydee]

8 hours ago, rudder said:

The adage is that an employer gets the union that it deserves.

Let's see what WJ gets. But these CEO comments do not bode well.

When relations become strained and the only thing that matters is the bottom line, unfortunately unions and the protections they offer become a necessary evil. 

Would be nice to live in a world where unions weren't required but when management starts taking an inappropriate share of the winnings, as a reward for simply doing what they are being paid to do in the first place, every day employees don't have a lot of options to grab a slice of the pie they baked while it's still on the table.

[Seeker]

 

22 hours ago, Vsplat said:

 

As soon as a company stratifies and elite management starts to appear, priorities are vulnerable to division.  As an operation expands and individuals enter at or above the invisible mercator between worker and manager, the personal links, and associated empathy with the bottom level erodes.  The CEO may get the need to stay connected, but they also have to delegate.  The increasingly invisible middle layers, increasingly disconnected, begin the erosion.  Not irreversible at the start, but also hard to spot.

 

I see this as a big issue too.  When the company is new and everyone has a similar amount of time in the connection is clear but as soon as managers, and executives, start to parachute in from other companies everything changes.  How is a 20 year Westjet employee supposed to feel about a new manager, and the company, when this person wasn't around for the big Encore pilot vote or the move from Hamilton to Toronto, has never worked for CB.  The new person has no memory of what really happened and no shared history and here they are telling me what to do and how to do it.  Personally, I would feel a distinct lack of confidence. 

[DEFCON]

Unionization is not the end of the world for god's sake; it's a new beginning.

 

[Vsplat]

DEFCON, I agree that unions bring change and the start of a new era.  But they also greatly change the shape of any place that has been built without the need for unions to begin with.  That change can so distort the business model that the enterprise is no longer able to succeed at that it used to do best.

My poor way of expressing this effect goes something like this.  Imagine if you took a happy family and decided to put every little chore and interaction between siblings and parents, heck even extended family, future in-laws, grandkids, you name it, into a contract.  Step over a line and there is a consequence.  Does anyone here think the contract would actually be able to capture the spirit that made that family happy? 

So, what happens the first time a family member does what they always did within the happy family, only this time draws punishment because, by the contract, they no longer have the right to do it?  Maybe its something the author of the contract was never made aware of and was a key part of what made this family member happy.   Repeat this daily for a year or two.  Every family member is affected.  Some of the siblings even find angles within the contract that give them powers they never had within the happy family structure, so they use the leverage to the disadvantage of their peers, after all, there is no new well of resources, so someone has to give for another to gain.  What are the odds this will be the same family, living the same way, at the end of those two years?

As I said, my poor attempt.

Vs

[DEFCON]

Vsplat

I can't disagree with anything you've said, in fact, I appreciate your perspective completely.

There's always a 'but' though and in this case I think rapid growth, new people and a changing corporate vision at WJ made unionization inevitable. From the perspective of an outsider, growth seems to have created a divide of sorts between the founding class and the more recent rank & file arrivals that likely make up the majority seeking unionization. Ironically, the situation at WJ is a bit like present day Canada, 'diversity' has led to major upheaval and a degree of uncertainty amongst the workers.

AC has been heavily unionized for many decades, but that factoid alone doesn't provide justification for it's historically sluggish corporate performance, there's no shortage of blame to pass around in this respect. Even so, we know the unions played a big part in holding the outfit back, but as we now can see, with a solid economic environment, the right CEO, a co-operative government and new thinking union leadership, things can actually work out very well for everyone involved.

WJ is certain to face a few new tribulations going forward as the parties jockey for position and learn to appreciate their new world, but I expect that most everyone will adapt to the new order in time and the Corporation will be better off overall.

 

 

 

[Vsplat]

I think there's easy consensus with much of what you say here.

WRT Air Canada and its unions, whether things are working out well for everyone is being hotly debated.  From where I sit, within the pilot population, this round of negotiations appears set to produce some very clear 'haves' and 'have nots'.  The corporation is, as you note, far better equipped to forecast and accommodate the scenarios they may face, so I am bullish as a share holder, not so much as a union member.  You can see in this response the very split we have been discussing throughout the thread. 

In Air Canada's case, I will credit the executive suite with the integrity to have been open and unapologetic about their priorities.  Love him or hate him, Mr Rovinescu does what he says he will do, and forecasting his next steps does not seem to give his competitors much advantage.  That he can operate this way does a lot for stakeholder confidence, be they shareholder or worker bee.

But, again to this thread, in a company so large, they cannot please everyone within their available resources.  To my eye, the current leadership seems to be investing in the 'winning as a team' approach for those things that may touch our customers.  But when it comes to labour, keeping the herd scattered so contracts roll the company's way seems to be the order of the day.  The union leadership appears to be OK with this approach, whether that is because they have a longer view or are being played won't be known until after the ink is dry on the next contract.

FWIW

Vs

[Guest]

From today's Calgary Herald July 15th

WESTJET PUSHES BACK AS UNIONS SEEK FOOTHOLD

Business environment changing amid airline’s expansion at home and abroad

• Calgary Herald
• 15 Jul 2017
• CHRIS VARCOE Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist. cvarcoe@postmedia.com

LARRY MACDOUGAL/ THE CANADIAN PRESS WestJet CEO Gregg Saretsky emphasized the cost of potential union dues for employees, noting how the company’s staff could represent almost $17 million in new revenue for the unions.

Since it first lifted off in 1996 with three aircraft and 220 employees, WestJet Airlines has identified itself as a different kind of company.

The Calgary-based airline has been a scrappy upstart from the beginning, both friendly and feisty, and it’s long touted the slogan, “Owners Care.”

About 83 per cent of staff own stock through an employee purchase program and workers receive profit-sharing payments. Growing into the second-largest airline in the country, it was also one of the largest businesses in Canada without a union.

But no longer.

After several unsuccessful attempts by various labour groups to organize employees, 62 per cent of more than 1,400 WestJet pilots agreed in May to join the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA).

Now, other unions, including Unifor and CUPE, are hoping to land their own successful certification campaigns to represent workers such as flight attendants, customer service agents and aircraft maintenance engineers.

“Other unions are opportunistically trying to grow their business by targeting WestJetters,” CEO Gregg Saretsky wrote in an email to staff last week.

“As I look at what we want for WestJetters — not just employees, but as owners of this business we are running together — what concerns me most is that the claims these unions are making are totally inaccurate. They clearly don’t understand our business.”

One thing everyone seems to understand is the business environment is changing.

WestJet is busy expanding both at home and abroad.

The company now has 12,000 employees, a $3-billion market cap, and it has announced plans to launch an ultra-low-cost carrier and acquire wide-body planes to extend its international reach.

This is unfolding while air traffic heats up and the economy improves in Western Canada, including on its home turf in Alberta.

On Thursday, WestJet announced it flew a record 5.9 million customers during the March-to-June period, up 11.5 per cent year over year. Its stock closed Friday at $25.79 a share.

A report by AltaCorp Capital analyst Chris Murray said he expects to see continued improvement in demand as the economy in the West picks up, with indications of “a very busy summer travel season.”

There’s obviously a whirlwind of change in the air, with currents moving in many directions.

WestJet’s no-frills carrier is expected to be launched later this year, competing for costconscious travellers by offering discount fares, with customers able to pay extra for items such as carry-on bags.

In May, WestJet announced plans to acquire 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, with an option for another 10, as it expands its reach into the long-haul segment of the market.

Saretsky told the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade last month that WestJet has asked for regulatory approval to launch non-stop service to China.

The company is pursuing a number of aggressive strategies simultaneously, which is likely creating uncertainty for some staff, Murray said in an interview.

“It’s very different trying to operate in an environment of that size then when you were a couple-hundred people trying to fly a couple old (Boeing) 737s between Calgary and Vancouver,” the analyst added.

“The airline itself has certainly grown and matured — and that’s where … the legacy issues really have sort of caught up with it.”

Unions trying to organize WestJet workers say they’ve been approached by employees in recent months who feel unsure about these changes, along with other issues.

But the successful bid by the pilots this spring has obviously inspired new campaigns.

“It’s like anything else, if they can do it why can’t we? This was always a tough nut to crack in the aviation industry,” said Bill Trbovich of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which is trying to organize WestJet’s service agents and maintenance engineers.

Just three years ago, the Canadian Union of Public Employees unsuccessfully tried to organize flight attendants — after failing in 2006 as well — but union spokesman Hugh Pouliot believes the situation has changed.

“People weren’t ready to do it (then). This time around, conditions are different,” he said, adding the shift to the ultra-low-cost carrier is creating anxiety among some workers CUPE has spoken with recently.

Unifor, which is trying to organize customer service representatives and call centre staff, said conditions have changed as the Calgary-based business has become a large corporation.

“WestJet has marketed themselves coming out of the starting blocks as a different kind of company,” said John Aman of Unifor. “It’s a different company now.”

In his email, Saretsky emphasized the cost of potential union dues for employees, noting how the company’s staff could represent almost $17 million in new revenue for the unions. He stressed certification would get in the way of communications and everyone working together.

WestJet spokesperson Lauren Stewart said the airline is trying to ensure employees get all of the facts.

“We continue to believe that employees and leadership work best together using a model that has been built by WestJet employees for WestJet employees,” she said in an email.

As the airline keeps growing, it’s only natural that WestJet’s unique culture will evolve.

The true measure of how much the company has changed — at least in the eyes of its employees — is about to get another test.

[dagger]

Things already getting dicey

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/alpa-takes-legal-action-against-westjet-and-westjet-encore-673568123.html

 

ALPA Takes Legal Action Against WestJet and WestJet Encore

 

WestJet and WestJet Encore Pilots File Unfair Labour Practice Complaint and Application for an Interim Order with the CIRB. WestJet Pilots File for Conciliation

CALGARY, Feb. 9, 2018 /CNW/ - WestJet and WestJet Encore pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA), today filed an unfair labour practice (ULP) complaint and an application for an interim order with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). ALPA also filed a notice of dispute and request for conciliation assistance with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) with regard to collective bargaining at WestJet.

 

"No one is more committed to the success of WestJet than our pilots—many of us are owners in the airline," said Capt. Rob McFadyen, chairman of WestJet's ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC). "However, management's actions are a clear violation of the Canada Labour Code, and we urge the CIRB to order them to cease and desist. Our pilots will stand up for our rights and continue to work toward a fair and reasonable collective agreement that meets the priorities of our pilots and brings stability to the airline."

The ULP complaint and application for an interim order assert that WestJet and WestJet Encore management violated numerous provisions of the Canada Labour Code by, among other things:

• Directly negotiating with pilots instead of with the union over key terms and conditions of employment at Swoop, an ultra-low-cost alter-ego airline which is slated to begin flying this summer; 
• Interfering with ALPA's exclusive representational rights of WestJet and WestJet Encore pilots; and 
• Changing and ignoring well-established pilot work rules and policies. 

ALPA is asking the CIRB to find that WestJet and WestJet Encore management officials violated these and other provisions of the Canada Labour Code. Furthermore, by filing an application for an interim order on behalf of both WestJet and WestJet Encore pilots, ALPA is asking the CIRB to take immediate action to neutralize the potential harm to WestJet and WestJet Encore pilots as raised in the ULP. As ALPA's interim order application has been filed on an expedited basis, we hope to have the CIRB's ruling on these issues in the coming weeks.

"Our Encore MEC supports the WestJet MEC and their actions as we stand guard over the future of our careers and protect against any erosion of our working conditions," said First Officer Ryan Petrie, Encore MEC chairman.

ALPA Files for Conciliation at WestJet
Today, WestJet pilots, through ALPA, also formally requested government assistance in labour negotiations, through the process known as conciliation. 

"The federal conciliation process allows our pilot group the government intervention we need to reach our first contract," McFadyen said. "As ALPA members, we now have the legal voice we need to say no when management violates the labour code. We will not sit idly by as management jeopardizes our careers and tries to circumvent our union." 

In a bid to negotiate the first collective agreement for WestJet pilots, ALPA and WestJet have been in bargaining since September 2017. During that time, the parties remain far apart on many issues. After nearly half a year of making a sincere effort, the parties have only tentatively agreed to seven sections, leaving almost two dozen sections remaining in that require management's attention. 

"We are optimistic that a federal conciliation officer will move the bargaining process along," said Capt. McFadyen. "Our pilots have built this airline into the global carrier WestJet is today. We are proud of what we have accomplished, and believe it is time for management to successfully complete our first collective agreement in short order. We believe that with the FMCS's assistance this goal will become a reality," said McFadyen.

With this request for conciliation, the Minister of Labour now has 15 days to appoint a conciliation officer. Once appointed, a conciliation officer will work with the parties for 60 days in an effort to reach an agreement. If both parties remain at an impasse following this period, then a 21-day cooling-off period begins before the parties can engage in self-help.

 

 

 

 

[AIP]

beautiful !!!!!!!!!

[DEFCON]

Saretsky may not like unionization, but it would probably be a lot better for all stakeholders if he were to embrace the change instead of fighting what was inevitable anyway.

[internet]

Greed kills.

....and let me clarify - I’m certain both sides are being greedy.

[dagger]

1 hour ago, DEFCON said:

Saretsky may not like unionization, but it would probably be a lot better for all stakeholders if he were to embrace the change instead of fighting what was inevitable anyway.

The bad publicity alone is not worth the trouble. But the parties may be angling to have the CIRB settle the matter. Still, the government isn't going to intervene until the parties are making a lot of noise that can worry travellers in their air travel purchases for the next several months.

C. Binding Arbitration and Settlement of First Agreements – Section 80

Binding arbitration may be imposed on parties that are required to enter into a first contract but have failed to do so. Section 80 of the Code grants the Minister of Labour the power to refer any dispute concerning negotiations for a first collective agreement to the Canada Industrial Relations Board for a determination. The Board, if it considers it appropriate, may settle the terms of a collective agreement, effectively imposing a first collective agreement on the parties. Where the Board does so, the agreement is effective for a two-year period. The parties may subsequently amend the terms of the agreement in writing during the two-year period.

The Board exercises the power to impose terms of settlement on the parties sparingly. It has held that imposing a collective agreement is done only in exceptional circumstances. (9) It has imposed agreements in situations where the negotiation process has broken down irreconcilably or where there is evidence of significant bad faith on the part of one or both of the parties such that continued negotiations would be pointless. (10)

[rudder]

Remember the old adage - a company gets the union it deserves.

WJ/GS/CB look like a poster child for deserving a fully unionized workforce.