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Membership Update
April 19, 2023
A Message from Your Executive Board
The Executive Board of Unifor Local 531 would like to take a moment to reflect on the progress we have made so far this year and share with you some of important updates. We are proud that our union has continued to work tirelessly to protect the rights and interests of our members. We believe that by working together and staying committed to our shared goals, we can continue to make a positive impact on the lives of our members and their families. We look forward to the opportunities that the coming months will bring and we thank you for your continued support.
Local 531 Bylaws
A bylaw is a regulation created by a local authority or an organization to govern the affairs of that locale or organization.
Unions are governed by clear constitutions, bylaws and other rules that are accessible to and changeable by the membership at regularly held conventions or meetings. Unifor’s Constitution can be found by clicking on this link. Since the Executive Board elections in October 2022, we have been developing Local Union Bylaws. They define your rights and responsibilities as a local member, they say how elections will be run, and they set the powers for your officers (the Executive Board). The bylaws will be presented to our members in a few weeks for your review. After the review, there will be an opportunity to ask questions to the Executive Board and then vote to accept or reject the bylaws. Watch in upcoming newsletters for more details.
Scheduling Review Committee
Both Vancouver and Calgary have established Scheduling Review Committees consisting of 1 full time employee and 1 part time employee. The Scheduling Review Committee meets with Workforce Leadership prior to each schedule release. The purpose of the SRC is to provide feedback to our Workforce Leaders and review any possibilities for alternative bid lines. In Vancouver, your Scheduling Review Committee is Bal Sandhu (FT DDC) and Kelsey Marion (PT GSL-B) and in Calgary, the representatives are Chris Lazark (PT PSA) and Michelle Norn (FT GSL). We have set up emails for each bases’ Scheduling Review Committee. You can reach YVR SRC at @email and YYC SRC at @email
Workplace Representatives
As we mentioned in our last communication, our Workplace Representatives have received training for their new roles and are available to members to answer your questions. The Calgary Representatives are Sandeep Samrai, Jamie Mote, Sharon Perren, Kismet Grewal, Shawn Ayrst, Luisa Simms, and Steven Evnik. The Vancouver Representatives are Sue Tooch, Leila Gabriel, Daisy Kelly, Elaine Keras and Mark Enns.
To reach the Vancouver Workplace Representatives, you can email them at @email
To reach the Vancouver Workplace Representatives, you can email them at @email
Union Savings Discount for Union Members
Union Savings was founded by union members, for union members! Their simple principle is; leveraging our collective strength as Canadian labour union members to deliver high quality, low cost benefits to labour union members and their families across Canada. With almost two million individual members, Union Savings leverages its strength in numbers to negotiate savings and discounts, exclusive to Canadian union members and their families. They do not collect union dues from members or charge members fees for portal access.A special shout out to YVR member Dave G for bringing this opportunity to his Unit Chair. Unifor Local 531 is now registered to gain these amazing discounts.
Visit unionsavings.ca to create an account and begin saving!
Travel Privileges Best Practices
We recently have seen our members subjected to disciplinary actions by the Company due to the misuse of their travel privileges. We want to stress to our members that disciplinary action up to and including termination can be taken if travel privileges are misused. Recently, members have experienced 3 month to 1 year travel suspensions as well as discipline on their files up to 24 months due to mistakes that could have been prevented. Ensuring you are well informed of the company Travel Privilege Policy will provide members with the information that employees are required to follow. During New Hire Orientation this is reviewed; however each member should take responsibility to ensure they are aware of the strict guidelines when it comes to personal, standby travel. We would like to highlight the following points to ensure all members maintain their travel privileges
● Check in for your flight opens 24 hours prior. Do not check in even 1 minute early. ● Do not use Sabre to perform any personal or coworker standby travel functions. Check in for your flight should be done on WestJet’s website or app on your phone. ● Do not waive fees (seats, changes etc) for 50% off confirmed flights for coworkers. ● Do not upgrade any standby guest prior to boarding, especially your travel companions or buddy passes out of the upgrade order. It is advisable to let the auto-tool perform this function at the gate.
● The standby dress code must be followed. Best practice is to wear what you would to a job interview. Leggings, flip flops, crop tops, ripped jeans, athletic wear are big no-nos. ● Your designated travel companion and buddy pass holders are a direct reflection on you. Their behavior, dress code and interactions with other employees can be used for discipline.
Keeping Our Shared Spaces Clean
Members from both of our bases have been in contact with us, regarding the state of their shared break spaces. As a reminder, these spaces are for the enjoyment and use of all WestJet employees and should be kept clean of personal belongings and garbage. The OH&S teams have been engaged in both bases.. If you have further concerns, please contact a leader at your base.
Working Alone
Our Working Alone focus group has been collaborating with their local Occupational Health and Safety teams to develop a proposal to present to WestJet’s Corporate Policy Committee. The goal of the Focus Group is to enhance the Working Alone processes already in place. With the increase of passenger aggression and violence against airline employees, the Union would like to see these processes updated to reflect this new environment we face. Riccia Kay in YVR and Karen D’Costa-Stegemann in YYC have been working together with their Unit Chairs to develop a Working Alone Survey which will be sent out to our members in the next few weeks. It is important that you share your thoughts as this can contribute to change in the workplace.
WestJet Toronto Airport Bargaining Update
On Monday, April 24th the Toronto Bargaining Committee will enter into a week of negotiations with the Company. The group faces a conciliation deadline of April 27th at midnight, when a 21 day cooling off period will begin. Despite the Bargaining Committee proposing to the Company
to extend conciliation, they have declined. During the 21 day time period, the YYZ Bargaining Committee could hold a strike vote with their Members. At the end of the 21 day cooling off period, the Toronto WestJet Airport employees would be in a position to strike. Karen Berry, our Local President will be attending the negotiations next week and will keep you informed of any updates.
Solidarity for WestJet ALPA Pilots
On Tuesday, April 18th APLA announced their strike vote results with 95% of pilots participating in the vote. They received a 92% vote in favour of striking if negotiations with the Company fail. The Pilots MEC will enter into negotiations with the Company over the next 4 weeks with a focus on getting a fair contract for their Members. If a contact cannot be reached, the Pilots would be
in position to strike on May 16th. We encourage all members to refrain from gossip and speculation. We will keep our members informed of any information you may need to know in the coming weeks.
Financial Update
On September 1, 2022, our Collective Agreement came into place and as a result, our members began paying union dues. Our Union Dues are collected at a rate of 1.35% on a member's regular wages on base pay but not on overtime pay or any other form of compensation. Unifor National has been collecting member dues on behalf of our Local until we are in a position to deal with them independently. Mark Enns, our Financial Secretary and our Trustees, Jagreet Sandhu and Elaine Keras have been working on our financial processes and procedures to ensure compliance with the Constitution and our Bylaws. A bank account has been opened with Community Savings Credit Union and we are actively working with Unifor National to have our funds moved to our Local’s bank account. It was important to the Executive Board to choose a banking institution that valued small local businesses and unionized themselves. When we become a fully functioning, financially independent Local Union, Mark and the trustees will prepare reports to the members who they are accountable to. If you have any questions, please contact Mark Enns, Financial Secretary at @email
Unpaid Work Won’t Fly and Day of Action
Our Flight Attendant coworkers are currently working on a campaign called Unpaid Work Won’t Fly with all flight attendants across Canada. Flight attendants across the country, on average work for 35 hours a month unpaid while they carry out their duties with boarding, pre-flight checks, deplaning and delays.
On April 25th, the flight attendants across Canada will be participating in a Day of Action across the country. They will be raising awareness and putting pressure on airlines and the government to end unpaid work. To show our support to our flight attendant coworkers, we encourage our members to join a Day of Action on April 25th in their community. Events are planned for Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.
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Sherwin Antonio will be attending the Calgary event and Mark, Breanne and Elaine will be attending the Vancouver event. Please get in touch with Sherwin, Breanne, Elaine or Mark if you want to join them to show your support. If you have any questions, comments, ideas or concerns please reach out to us! We are here for you. We look forward to connecting with you.
In Solidarity,
Local 531 Executive Board
Karen Berry - @email
Breanne Laihow - @email (note the email address change)
Sherwin Antonio - @email (note the email address change)
Mark Enns - @email
Kara Jahn - @email
Elaine Keras - trusteeyvr@uniforlocal 531.ca
Jagreet Sandhu - @email
General inquiries @email
