Deteriorating Maintenance Culture at WestJet

ssmplaw

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Dec 12, 2023
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WESTJET ACKNOWLEDGES “SERIOUS AND EMERGING CONCERN” WITHIN MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS

ENGINEERS UNION INITIATES LEGAL ACTION TO COUNTER “TROUBLING REDUCTION” IN MAINTENANCE OVERSIGHT

CENTENNIAL, Colo. – December 11, 2023 – On December 11, 2023, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) filed unfair labour practice charges against WestJet Airlines (WJA) with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). On March 30, 2023, the CIRB certified AMFA as the representative of the airline’s Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs) and all other skilled aircraft maintenance employees.

The dispute concerns WestJet’s unilateral creation of the new position of Operations Manager (OM) and the transfer to that position of safety-sensitive maintenance coordination work previously performed by bargaining unit members. The OM positions have been largely filled with former Aircraft Maintenance Leads (AMLs) who had been included within the CIRB-certified bargaining unit. AMFA’s charges allege that WestJet’s actions have “caused disarray within maintenance operations and hostility among co-workers whose integrated efforts are critical to maintenance safety culture.”

WestJet managers have recognized the disruptive impact of the company’s actions. In an email dated November 10, WestJet’s Senior Manager, Labour Relations Virginia Swindall sought AMFA’s immediate “intervention in de-escalating” a “serious and emerging concern” relating to its Toronto maintenance operations. According to Swindall, WestJet’s Manager, Line Maintenance Darren Cook reported that a Toronto AME was “passionately advising our employees to ‘**** the OMs’, etc.”

In a November 13 letter seeking to resolve the dispute, AMFA Region II Director Will Abbott advised WestJet that its actions had “sown dissension within the department with AMEs perceiving former AMLs who have accepted OM positions as scabs who have betrayed the bargaining unit and cut off their brother AMEs from economic opportunities.”

“The safe performance of aircraft maintenance requires professionalism and mutual trust,” commented AMFA National President Bret Oestreich. “By its own admission, the airline’s actions have led to emotion and hostility within its maintenance operations. WestJet aircraft maintenance professionals unionized because they felt disrespected by the carrier and dismissed the AME’s critical contributions as a stakeholder to WestJet operations. Now, WestJet seems to be methodically rubbing salt into the wound.”

“At several stations, we have witnessed a troubling reduction in lead oversight of maintenance operations,” added Oestreich. “And this arises in a context where maintenance staffing at some stations remains below pre-COVID levels despite a post-COVID surge in flight volume. WestJet aircraft maintenance is headed in a direction inconsistent with safe operations.”

“Once the CIRB has certified a union, the law prohibits unilateral changes of status quo working conditions without prior negotiations with the union,” commented Samuel Seham, an attorney for AMFA. “This is particularly true with respect to the transfer of work outside the bargaining unit and the resulting loss of economic opportunities. To the extent that chaos now reigns within the airline’s maintenance operations, I attribute that chaos to what I consider to be WestJet’s unlawful conduct. We have commenced this CIRB action in the interest of our members and aviation safety.”
 
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WESTJET ATTORNEY ATTEMPTS TO PUT UNION “ON NOTICE” AFTER PUBLICATION OF COMPANY EMAIL ACKNOWLEDGING “SERIOUS AND EMERGING CONCERN” WITHIN MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS

On December 11, 2023, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) filed unfair labor practice charges against WestJet, An Alberta Partnership (WestJet) with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). The charges concerned WestJet’s unilateral creation of the Operations Manager (OM) position and its failure to backfill safety-sensitive maintenance positions. In the aftermath of the filing, AMFA National President Bret Oestreich and other union representatives were served with a letter from WestJet Legal Counsel Simon Mortimer purporting to put AMFA “on notice” for alleged “malicious commentary” on the state of WestJet maintenance operations.
As an exhibit to its unfair labor practice charges, AMFA had included an November 10 email from WestJet’s Senior Manager, Labour Relations Virginia Swindall seeking AMFA’s immediate “intervention in de-escalating” a “serious and emerging concern” relating to its Toronto maintenance operations. According to Swindall, WestJet’s Manager Line Maintenance Darren Cook reported that a Toronto AME was “passionately advising our employees to ‘**** the OMs’, etc.”
AMFA had echoed the very same concerns raised by Swindall. In statements made after the filing, AMFA representatives commented that any disruptions in the WestJet maintenance department were the result of WestJet’s failure to adequately communicate with its employees and adhere to the requirements of the Canada Labour Code. The safe performance of aircraft maintenance required mutual trust between employees, the union, and the employer.
Yet, WestJet appeared irate when its own manager’s statements were thrown right back at the Company. “The letter from WestJet’s attorney is couched in terms that allude to a potential defamation action against the Union and its officers,” commented AMFA attorney Samuel Seham. “AMFA has a right to advocate on behalf of its members. I consider counsel’s letter to be a threat designed to frustrate the exercise of that right and a violation of the Canada Labour Code.”
“We are attempting to improve the working conditions of our members and ensure the safe operation of aircraft both in the United States and Canada,” stated Bret Oestreich, AMFA National President. “WestJet must recognize that its AMEs and maintenance professionals play a crucial role in its operations. We will not be dissuaded. We will not be turned away. We will persist.”
 
So if I’m reading this right already within just barely a year of AMFA representation their membership is going to be locked out and possibly replaced?

 
Great work Lee. You keep on bilking those suckers. You’re going to make a killing with this sham.

 
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