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Westjet pilots strike vote


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14 minutes ago, Green **bleep** said:

Yes too bad it’s come this far. But it has. You can’t bring a gun to a gun fight and not have any bullets!

Bullet. Singular. Fire the bullet, your gun is now empty.

Once a strike has been "struck", all employees in the bargaining group are considered terminated. Their frozen contract evaporates. They have nothing left until...the company caves in, offers them their jobs back (sometimes with worse conditions than what was struck for) or hopefully, a better contract than what they had.

Best of luck to the pilot group but you always need to be careful what you wish for.

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9 hours ago, Green **bleep** said:

Show us an example of this outcome in this airline industry at this present time ?  Please cut the **bleep** , “ be careful what you wish for “

 

 

Perhaps your initial post was a chance to vent, however, if you don’t want others with airline industry experience to comment perhaps you should keep this news to yourself and others involved. This hot topic can generate a variety of viewpoints. 

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WestJet statement regarding ALPA strike authorization vote


NEWS PROVIDED BY

WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership

Apr 25, 2018, 21:10 ET

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CALGARY, April 25, 2018 /CNW/ - WestJet today issued the following statement regarding the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) announcement that it has issued a strike authorization vote to WestJet pilots.

"A strike authorization vote is a common step by unions in context of the overall labour negotiation process," said Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO. "We remain focused on successfully negotiating an agreement that will benefit our pilots and WestJet."

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I'll caution again that a first contract situation under federal labor law will likely end up being sent to arbitration at the request of one side or the other. 

 

However, if WS allows things to get nasty enough from a PR standpoint, it's going to hurt.

I'd say ALPA owes AC management a vote of thanks for putting out this press release. Every nasty thing Gregg Saretsky ever said about AC is coming home to roost here.

I'd also bet that Calin remembers this, too

 

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/westjet-complains-in-ottawa-about-air-canada-pension-request/article6521149/?service=mobile

 

 

 

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/air-canada-prepared-for-potential-labour-disruptions-at-westjet-680944461.html

 

Quote

 

MONTREAL, April 26, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today said it is ready to adjust its schedules and capacity to limit disruptions for the traveling public and to ensure that customers get to their destinations in the event of a labour disruption at WestJet.  

We know that people travel for a variety of reasons and as the busy summer period approaches, we appreciate that the traveling public may be feeling anxious about their plans resulting from the uncertainty associated with potential labour disruptions at WestJet. With our extensive network and varied fleet, we are well placed to accommodate passengers disrupted by this situation. The travelling public can book Air Canada with confidence at www.aircanada.com or by calling their travel agents.

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, dagger said:

I'll caution again that a first contract situation under federal labor law will likely end up being sent to arbitration at the request of one side or the other. 

 

However, if WS allows things to get nasty enough from a PR standpoint, it's going to hurt.

I'd say ALPA owes AC management a vote of thanks for putting out this press release. Every nasty thing Gregg Saretsky ever said about AC is coming home to roost here.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/air-canada-prepared-for-potential-labour-disruptions-at-westjet-680944461.html

 

 

I think this release by AC is as much about Karma as anything else.  AC has eaten many a S#%t sandwich from the good folks in teal, funny how things turnaround sometimes.

Good on AC for jumping on this opportunity.

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ANALYSIS: ALPA warns of strike as WestJet readies Swoop

  • 27 April, 2018
  • SOURCE: Flight Dashboard
  • BY: Jon Hemmerdinger
  • Boston

The union representing WestJet's pilots has warned of a possible strike on 19 May, marking further escalation of a labour battle made contentious by WestJet's plans to launch ultra-discount unit Swoop.

Despite pressure from the union, WestJet's new chief executive Ed Sims has remained steadfast in the need for WestJet to get into the ultra-low-cost market as soon as it possibly can.

"We need to launch the airline as soon as possible. Every day we don’t have that airline in operation is a day we ask our guests to go down the lane to a … a competitor," he told FlightGlobal on 20 April.

On 25 April, the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) announced it had asked pilots to vote on whether they approve of strike against WestJet, according to ALPA.

A chief unresolved issue: WestJet's plan to staff Swoop's cockpits with pilots who do not currently work for the company and who are not covered by the union.

"Unfortunately, [WestJet] believes there is no issue with outsourcing our work and our careers. They expect us to just stand in place, be grateful to work for the company we helped build, and be willing to accept terms that are substandard compared to our peers,” ALPA representative Rob McFadyen says in an ALPA release.

A federally-required 60-day period of WestJet-ALPA conciliation ends on 27 April. Then follows a 21-day required cooling-off period, after which pilots can strike, ALPA says.

"Pilots are still open to negotiating… during this period," adds McFadyen.

“A strike authorisation vote is a common step by unions in context of the overall labour negotiation process,” says WestJet's Sims in a statement. "We remain focused on successfully negotiating an agreement that will benefit our pilots and WestJet."

Even Air Canada commented, saying it is "ready to adjust its schedules and capacity to limit disruptions for the travelling public" should WestJet pilots strike.

WestJet pilots had not been unionised until May 2017. ALPA and WestJet have been negotiating a pilot contract for eight months, Sims tells FlightGlobal.

But during that period, WestJet advanced a plan to launch ultra-discount unit Swoop, with the first flight scheduled to depart on 20 June. Swoop will operate 189-seat Boeing 737-800s.

WestJet has said it intends to pay Swoop pilots wages in-line with other ultra-low-cost carriers – in other words, less.

WestJet's initial plan called for those pilots to come from WestJet or regional subsidiary Encore; they would transfer to Swoop under WestJet's "leave of absence" policy, former chief executive Gregg Saretsky said in February.

ALPA stomped that idea, filing an unfair labour practice complaint with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board. That board sided with the union, ordering WestJet on 2 March to abandon the leave of absence idea.

In the days that followed, WestJet underwent a management overhaul, with Sims, formerly executive vice-president of commercial, replacing Saretsky as CEO.

Some analysts viewed the move as a board effort to smooth over or reset relations with pilots.

Sims told FlightGlobal on 20 April that ALPA wants Swoop pilots covered under a contract. But WestJet has concern about keeping Swoop's costs in check, he said.

Sims said he is "determined to keep a CASM gap" between Swoop and WestJet, and between Swoop and other carriers like Air Canada.

Therefore, Swoop will launch 20 June with non-WestJet pilots.

"We will launch with newly-hired pilots," Sims said. "My preference is those aircraft one day be flown with WestJet [crew]."

FIRST-TIME NEGOTIATIONS

WestJet's discussions with pilots have been broad because the parties negotiating the deal from scratch, according to Sims.

"When you do a first negotiation, everything is on the table," he says. "There's a lot of recent history and a lot of ancient history that's brought to the negotiation."

ALPA could not immediately be reached to comment about negotiations.

Sims says he has stressed to the union the importance that the contract reflect the market in which WestJet operates, noting that customer drive across the US border to catch flights on US-based discounters like Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines.

WestJet has sought to demonstration to pilots "the economic rationale" behind Swoop, while also stressing that "the biggest danger for WestJet is not developing our own ULCC".

"[Pilots] are looking at this first negotiation as an opportunity to operate Swoop with no distinction," says Sims. "We have a different view. We have taken, effectively, a more cautious approach by bringing in Canadian pilots from overseas."

In addition to US discounters, WestJet competes against Air Canada and that company's discount Rouge unit, and faces threats from a prospective start-up out of Vancouver called Jetlines.

Then there is Flair Airlines, an already-operating ULCC that launched scheduled flights as NewLeaf Travel Company in 2016.

Flair has largely flown under the radar, but has continually expanded, having recently added routes to several cities, including places like Calgary, Halifax, Prince George, Saskatoon and Victoria, FlightGlobal schedules data shows.

Sims also has an eye trained on a certain Arizona-based private equity company called Indigo Partners, which is run by former Spirit board chair William Franke.

In addition to having ties with Jetlines, Indigo holds order for 430 Airbus A320-family aircraft. Though non-Canadian carriers will reportedly operate those aircraft, the existence of such a large order gives Sims pause.

"I'm trying to make Canada one of the less-attractive options because of the level of competitive opportunity, rather than looking like a soft underbelly," he says.

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58 minutes ago, J.O. said:

My how things have changed. I have to say I never expected it to come down to this. I'm expecting to see a flock of pigs fly past my office window at any moment.

This very occurrence was predicted from the day Westjet announced it's plan to go national - I'm not surprised.  It's part of the natural evolution.

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4 hours ago, J.O. said:

My how things have changed. I have to say I never expected it to come down to this. I'm expecting to see a flock of pigs fly past my office window at any moment.

It was many years ago now, but I still remember when a bonafide kool-aid drinker told me the managers who were going to run WestJet into the ground had already been hired.

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This notion that pilots (or any other employee group) are going to stick it to the company somehow resembles the rebellion of adolescents fighting their parents. All to find out in good time that children cannot prosper if their parents don't!

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35 minutes ago, MD2 said:

This notion that pilots (or any other employee group) are going to stick it to the company somehow resembles the rebellion of adolescents fighting their parents. All to find out in good time that children cannot prosper if their parents don't!

But of course sometimes Parents don't have the best interests of their children at heart. 

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How the times have changed.  WestJet Pilots were historically (enthusiastically) willing to work for below industry compensation, in exchange for profit sharing and quick upgrades.  Both of which  have dried up and now left with relatively poor wages.  Not to mention they got sucked into being part time Aircraft Groomers. 

Along comes Encore and they throw those poor young Pilots under the bus for poverty wages.  Can't blame Management for this one, they got addicted to getting their own way.  Along comes the Swoop Wake-up Call and now .....enuf is enuf.  

Didn't have to be Kreskin to see this one coming.  Explains why WJ is AC's new farm team, supplying a large number of the recent new hires.

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4 hours ago, Johnny said:

How the times have changed.  WestJet Pilots were historically (enthusiastically) willing to work for below industry compensation, in exchange for profit sharing and quick upgrades.  Both of which  have dried up and now left with relatively poor wages.  Not to mention they got sucked into being part time Aircraft Groomers. 

Along comes Encore and they throw those poor young Pilots under the bus for poverty wages.  Can't blame Management for this one, they got addicted to getting their own way.  Along comes the Swoop Wake-up Call and now .....enuf is enuf.  

Didn't have to be Kreskin to see this one coming.  Explains why WJ is AC's new farm team, supplying a large number of the recent new hires.

Wow. If true, who would have figured. The really senior gals & guys in the pointy end (pre-2001) must really be disappointed.

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26 minutes ago, Moon The Loon said:

Wow. If true, who would have figured. The really senior gals & guys in the pointy end (pre-2001) must really be disappointed.

Actually,  I believe some of the most ardent supporters of ALPA are the senior pilots/day-one’ers.   They’ve had front-row seats to the dramatic change at WJ, and clearly see what senior management has done to the pilot group.   

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7 hours ago, Johnny said:

How the times have changed.  WestJet Pilots were historically (enthusiastically) willing to work for below industry compensation, in exchange for profit sharing and quick upgrades.  Both of which  have dried up and now left with relatively poor wages.  Not to mention they got sucked into being part time Aircraft Groomers. 

Along comes Encore and they throw those poor young Pilots under the bus for poverty wages.  Can't blame Management for this one, they got addicted to getting their own way.  Along comes the Swoop Wake-up Call and now .....enuf is enuf.  

Didn't have to be Kreskin to see this one coming.  Explains why WJ is AC's new farm team, supplying a large number of the recent new hires.

Poverty wages - give me a break. They decided to fly for those wages - no one forced them too. And if they all bail to AC, that’s the market forces doing exactly what it’s supposed to. If Encore wants to prevent the revolving door of pilots then they will pay more to stop it. Or maybe they are fine with it.

But stop with the “labour being oppressed” nonsense.

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C&P from another source.....

68/hr capt, 38/hr FO, 70 hrs per month pay guarantee. So this amounts to 58k and 31k per year respectively. You will be working 20 days per month. ESP contributions (retirement) is only 10% versus 20% for everyone else at Westjet. So the dude loading the bags has a better retirement plan than the dash 8 skipper. The only carrot in front is the "possibility" of moving onto the 737 but once the NG deliveries stop in a few years what then?

 

APPENDIX A:

WESTJET ENCORE PILOT HOURLY RATE OF PAY



FIRST OFFICER
Step 1 Start Rate $38.00
Step 2 Completed one (1) year $38.76
Step 3 Completed two (2) years $39.54
Step 4 Completed three (3) Years $40.33



CAPTAIN
Step 1 Start Rate $68.00
Step 2 Completed one (1) year $69.36
Step 3 Completed two (2) years $70.75
Step 4 Completed three (3) Years $72.16

For argument sake lets say 80 hours, that gives the Q400 F/O 3K / month with no pension.  That is less than the guy pumping the fuel into the Aircraft and likely less than the Starbucks Barista. Think you could live in Calgary on that wage?  Thank the WJPA for eating their young, which Pilots are notoriously good at. 

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Want a job that pays $75K-$100K? Few do, amid Canada’s worst labour shortage in 10 years

168a5358-e1518894734150.jpg?quality=60&sBy Erica AliniNational Online Journalist, Money/Consumer  Global News
GLOBAL NES HOUR AT 6: SERVICE INDUSTRY DEALS WITHCITICAL LABOUR SHORTAGEX

WATCH: Service industry is facing a critical labour shortage.

- A A +

Andy Lewis of Mile One Mobile, a truck servicing and repair firm based near Ottawa, says he can’t keep up with the entry-level salaries the city is able to offer to experienced mechanics.

The municipal government, which needs technicians to repair things like snowplows, backhoes and city trucks, is paying newly minted mechanics the kind of hourly salary that Lewis reserves for someone with years on the job.

READ MORE: Equal pay for equal work? Not under Ontario’s new statutory holiday pay rules

On top of that, due to Ontario’s recent minimum wage hike, he says now has to pay $14 an hour to “babysit” a young apprentice who “can’t change a headlight.”

With clients paying $90 an hour and two mechanics on staff who make $35 an hour, the shop owner said he’s barely breaking even.

Lewis’ struggles are hardly unique to Ontario and its new pay floor.

In Richmond, B.C., Salmon’s Transfer, a moving company, is also hitting a wall when trying to attract new hires.

READ MORE: Lost jobs, cut hours, no paid breaks. Do minimum wage hikes hurt workers?

Company president Doug Kellough can’t remember a worse labour shortage in his 56 years in the industry.

“I’ve never seen it develop as it has in the past few years,” he told Global News.

A job ad for four or five part-time hires would attract 20 to 25 applications, with a few candidates taking the initiative of dropping by the office in person, Kellough recalled.

Now he’s lucky if he gets one or two resumes in response to an online ad, he said.

Even finding long-haul drivers, who can expect to make between $75,000 and $100,000 a year, has become difficult, Kellough said.

READ MORE: Canada’s 10 most in-demand jobs for 2018 and their salaries: Randstad

470,000 unfilled jobs

With unemployment near a 40-year low, job vacancies stood at 470,000 by the end of 2017, up nearly 25 per cent since the beginning of the year.

It’s the most severe labour shortage the country has seen since the onset of the financial crisis, said Dan Kelly, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

“It is not at the epidemic level,” he said, but “it certainly has picked up significantly.”

READ MORE: Jobs you can get with these common university degrees

The shortages are widespread across regions and industries, according to the CFIB’s most recent survey of job vacancies among small businesses.

British Columbia has the nation’s tightest labour market, with a vacancy rate of 3.9 per cent, followed closely by Quebec (3.6 per cent) and Ontario (3.2 per cent). But even New Brunswick, Alberta and Manitoba are also reporting increasing rates of unfilled jobs.

WATCH: Rise of tech-based jobs mean ‘old-fashioned’ jobs are back in demand across Canada

final-jobs.jpg?w=670&quality=70&strip=all

Personal services and construction are the occupational categories with the highest vacancy rate, according to the survey. But the areas where small-business employers are having a hard time finding hires include the restaurant and hospitality industry, the transport industry, the travel and tourism sector, as well as trades related occupations, said Kelly.

Many small firms are saying the inability to hire the help they need has become a cap on business and expansion plans, according to another regular survey conducted by the CFIB, the Business Barometer.

Kellough said he regularly turns away business he knows his company won’t be able to handle.

“We book only what we know we can out there.”

WATCH: Here are jobs that can be done remotely and pay more than $50,000 per year.

5a624559e494f2e85c49bc2c-1280x720_1_Jan_19_2018_21_11_37_poster.jpg?w=670&quality=70&strip=all

Wages are rising

With the demand for new hires often outstripping the supply of job candidates, wages are starting to rise faster. Wage growth rose from 2 .6 per cent in the last three months of 2017 to 3.2 per cent in the first three months of 2018 according to Statistics Canada, although recent data also reflects Ontario raising its provincial minimum wage to $14 an hour on Jan. 1 and Alberta lifting its pay floor to $13.60 an hour on October 1, 2017.

READ MORE: Here are the jobs with the highest — and lowest — wage growth in Canada

Employers competing for workers are also throwing in other sweeteners, like improved benefits and training opportunities, said Kelly.

The scramble to hire is also good news for groups that typically show high unemployment rates such as recent immigrants, Aboriginal people, and the disabled population, he added.

WATCH: Here are the jobs with wages that have kept up with inflation – and those that haven’t

industry.jpg?w=670&quality=70&strip=all

Still, Kelly says the labour shortage may also be a taste of what’s in store for Canada for the next several decades.

As baby boomers retire, he said, “we should expect some increasing pressure to find workers.”

That dynamic may already be at play in Atlantic Canada, he said, where some regions may be experiencing a tight labour market despite lacklustre growth because of their aging populations.

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Conducting a strike vote BEFORE the end of conciliation period and last negotiations is not in the spirit of negotiating an agreement during first contact. It may prove costly.

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