WestJet’s pilots vote against union representation

WestJet (Calgary) has issued this statement:

WestJet today issued the following statement from President and CEO Gregg Saretsky regarding the outcome of the unionization vote among its Boeing 737 pilots.

“We are pleased that the majority of our pilots who voted have voted against union representation. Our model of cooperation and employee representation through the WestJet Pilots’ Association has allowed for the continued success of our pilots and our airline. Despite the positive outcome, there is continued work that needs to take place to better understand some of the issues for our pilot group and we can now turn our efforts to that goal.”

Meanwhile WJPA issued this statement:

Today the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) released the official results of the vote to unionize WestJet pilots. The results demonstrate decisive support for the WJPA: over 684 eligible pilots, representing 55 per cent of WestJet pilots who voted, showed their support for the WJPA by voting no to the WestJet Professional Pilots Association acting as their bargaining agent in matters of collective bargaining with their employer.

“WestJet pilots were offered a clear choice—continued representation by the WJPA or unionization,” said Captain Paul Ysselmuiden and Captain Michael Wesolowski , co-chairs of the WJPA. “These results demonstrate decisive support for the WJPA to continue to lead more than 1,500 pilots into the future.”

The WJPA strongly believes that WestJet and WestJet Encore pilots are stronger when they are part of one team. Moving forward, the WJPA will continue to effectively advocate on behalf of all WestJet and WestJet Encore pilots.