May 21, 2021

TORONTO – In a major victory for hard-hit airline workers, 531 WestJet airport agents in Calgary and Vancouver are now members of Unifor, the Canada Industrial Relations Board has declared.

“Today these workers have gained a voice in their workplace during a challenging time in their industry. WestJet workers are dedicated employees who have a great deal to offer as the airline moves forward,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.

“With the sale of their airline almost two years ago and the impact of the pandemic on all airlines over the past year, it is vital that workers have a voice in the future of this company.”

The announcement was made at a media conference live on Facebook this morning. A broadcast quality video of the media conference can be downloaded here.

Unifor filed an application with the Canada Industrial Relations Board on April 12, 2021 to certify Unifor as the union for 320 airport agents in Calgary and 211 in Vancouver, including those on the job and those laid off due to COVID-19.

The board certified Unifor as the sole bargaining agent for these workers Thursday after declaring that more than half the workers at the two locations had signed membership cards

Unifor represents 7,500 airport agents at other airlines, including at Air Canada, Jazz, Porter, First Air, Calm Air and more. In all, Unifor represents more than 16,000 workers across the airline industry, and has led the fight to push the federal government to create a national aviation plan, and has held rallies, presented to parliamentary committees and has actively lobbied for a national recovery plan for the sector that includes financial support for workers.

“I am proud to work at WestJet, and proud to now be a member of Unifor. WestJet grew as a company where workers were heard, and Unifor will help make sure that continue,” said Sherwin Antonio a Customer Service Agent in Baggage at WestJet in Calgary.

“We have been talking to WestJet workers across the country for some time, and support has always been strong. A year ago, we suddenly could no longer talk to them in airports because of COVID-19, and switched to online organizing,” Unifor Organizing Director Kellie Scanlan said.

“Today’s victory for WestJet workers really shows the power online organizing.”

Case Study 2: Compass Minerals & Unifor Local 16-O
In 2018, almost 300 members of Unifor Local 16-O working at for Compass Minerals in Goderich, ON went on strike after rejecting a company proposal that included mandatory overtime, 16-hour shifts and 72-hour work weeks. The US- based employer brought in scabs in an attempt to keep the mine operating, leading to heightened tensions on the picket line and safety concerns in the workplace.	Compass Minerals & Unifor Local 16-O Type of dispute: Strike Location: Goderich, Ontario Number of members: 295 Duration: April 28, 2018 to July 16, 2018 Total days lost: 86

GARY LYNCH

Gary Lynch is the former President of Local 16-0 and was President during the 2019 strike at the Compass Minerals Salt Mine in Goderich Ontario, where the employer bussed in scabs to prolong the dispute.

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You know, it’s not rocket science. Anybody that has a job will fight for their job. That’s what we come to work for – to support our families. And when you take that away, everybody bands together because they know what’s right and wrong.

How do you think the use of scabs in the last round of bargaining will affect how you and your members feel about going into the next round?

Like any local union, at times we all don’t agree on everything that is brought forward, whether it’s from the union executive or from management. But when they do something like this, it brought our local so close together, especially when the gloom cut so deep.

But that’s all I get now – three years later, I walked to the square to go to Tim Horton’s and people know that we’re up for negotiations. To me, that’s shocking. It’s like, wow, you guys remembered.

People in town know it’s been three years and they’re waiting to see what’s going to happen.

I think the strike brought us all closer together, you know? And at the end of the day, we did walk those scabs off the property – probably the proudest moment of my life. It just created a huge solidarity through our local. I know we sent a strong message and took a stand. And I’ll never forget that morning, waking up to that footage and it cutting to a video of Jerry walking the scabs out.

LANCE GREER

Lance Greer is the Vice-President of Local 16-0 and was a member of the Local Executive during the 2019 strike at the Compass Minerals Salt Mine in Goderich, Ontario.

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What was your experience like during the 2018 labour dispute at the mine?

I remember in July 2018, having to watch those white buses rolling in. My kids were teenagers at the time, and they knew what it meant. It was a kick in the face for the most part. There’s young kids that shouldn’t have understood what those white buses were, and what they represented and what they were doing to the community. We even had people that needed to leave the community for a little while to work at different places, in different mines. And that impacted the community as a whole, because we didn’t have money being spent here. There wasn’t the same disposable income going around, so the whole town, the whole community, felt what was going on with the fact that we had scabs.

How does the use of scabs change the balance of power in bargaining?

It means your boss can just say to you the workers, “I don’t have to negotiate with you. I’ll just bring in some buddies from New Brunswick on a bus.” Collective bargaining is supposed to be fair, but it gives them a complete upper hand. You can’t go to the table and expect to have a fair deal, or even have the chance to express your position in the bargaining process. If the employers have the option of not even talking to people, and still getting their product out, it’s absolutely tipping the balance and the scales in the company’s favour.

What do you think was the impact of the use of scabs on the length of the dispute in Goderich?

I aged quite a bit that summer! I will tell you, the fact is that we went days, weeks, and eventually months without them actually coming to the table to legitimately negotiate. And that really affected how we were going to actually reach a deal. In the end, the only reason that they came back to the table was because we took away their ability to have the scabs at the mine. Once it was clear they weren’t getting in or out – once they got it – that was it. That was the only reason they came back to settle.

If you could talk to one of the scabs that crossed the picket line, what would you say to them?

For us, it’s our right to belong to a union. It’s our constitutional right to belong to a union. And we believe in that – we believe in the fact that we have collective bargaining power in that fashion. When you have somebody else come and take your job, the fact is we are no longer able to go to the bargaining table and bargain a fair and equal agreement for the workers.

For somebody to come from out of province, it’s a kick in the face. It’s one of the worst things that I could think of doing to somebody – they don’t know who we are and they don’t know our families. They don’t know the community.

If your employer had been able to continue to use scabs, what do you think would have been the outcome there?

For us, we were really sure there would have been some sort of serious accident at the mine. And the dispute would have been prolonged. But in terms of an accident, the fact is we were worried about the mine as a whole, and would we even have a place to go back to work? That was a serious concern that we still talk about today.

These people the company had hired to come and do our jobs had no skills whatsoever and were working 12 to 16 hour days.

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Dominic Harris recalls his cousin cutting his hand open.

“He took Superglue and glued it because he didn’t want to go to the hospital,” he said.

“My other cousin tore his ACL and he’s now looking at a $6,000 bill to get an MRI, not including surgery. He has no insurance. If we had a universal health care system, everyone would be on the same level – whether you’re a judge or janitor.”

Harris, a member of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, was among five panelists in the Everybody In, Nobody Out: Public Health Care For All webinar Wednesday evening, who all described wide gaps in health care systems in North America, exacerbated by COVID-19.

Working people across North America experience vastly different access to health care and for those who do not have privileged access; it could be the fine line between life and death.

“We really saw a humanitarian crisis in nursing homes. It really is tragic and for us in Canada, it’s pointed out the glaring differences between a for-profit system and a not-for-profit system,” said moderator Katha Fortier, Executive Assistant to Unifor National President Jerry Dias.

Rob Moquin, Unifor Local 39-11 Unit Chair, City Paramedics, said the public, politicians and unions need to advocate on behalf of those who don’t have access to family physicians via walk-in clinics as a pressing health care issue in his Thunder Bay, Ont. community.

“There’s a community culture we need to change – that health care is for all, regardless of where you fall in status,” he said.

Melvin MacKay, an international executive board member for International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 10, offers a grim perspective for those facing insecure housing in the U.S.

“Here, in San Francisco, if you don’t have insurance, they don’t open the door,” he said. “We have a lot of homeless here that need medical attention. Some people get fired for assisting. It’s repulsive.”

Zenei Cortez, the president of the National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association, said she’s haunted by the more than 400 nurses who died during COVID-19 due to a lack of PPE at their workplaces.

She’s fighting for Medicare for all so every nurse is provided with adequate staffing levels, equipment and training they need to take care of patients. She often sees GoFundMe fundraisers launched just to pay for medical treatment.

“Despite the gains met by the Affordable Care Act in 2010 under President (Barack) Obama, there’s since 29 million people who have no health insurance and on top of that, we have 44 million who are underinsured, which means they can’t afford to use it because of expensive co-pays,” she said.

The path forward may be forged by replicating the U.K. system of Medicare, gaining a critical mass movement of working-class people who demand it and getting more politicians on board to openly say they are for Medicare for all, the panel said.

“I find a lot of people are afraid to access health care, knowing it may cost them money for medications after,” said Moquin.

“Unifor has a great stance on universal Pharmacare and I think that’s our next step in Ontario and Canada.”

Act now to support the call for universal Pharmacare. Add your name to a petition to the House of Commons today