Around 4,400 WestJet flight attendants could walk off the job next month if a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached soon.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 8125, which represents the flight attendants, said Wednesday that the worker group voted by 99.4% to give their bargaining team strike authorization.
The vote does not necessarily mean that WestJet’s flight attendants will go on strike, only that they could in the future. After a mandated 21-day “cooling off” period, the soonest the group could stop working is Aug. 2.
“The members of CUPE 8125 are united and determined,” local president Alia Hussain said in a statement. “They voted to strike because they stand behind the bargaining priorities that they have identified, especially pay for all hours of work performed. WestJet should do the right thing and prevent travel disruptions for their passengers.”
WestJet and its unionized flight attendants have been negotiating for a new labor contract for months. The current contract, which came into effect in 2021, became amendable at the end of 2025.
According to the CBC, WestJet leaders have acknowledged that some changes will be needed to keep the flight attendants’ pay ahead of inflation, but it is not clear if they will accept CUPE’s demand for a new pay model, which would provide compensation for duties and hours worked outside of flights. The airline has argued that it already pays for those extra hours with an above-standard “credit hour” system.
Similar concerns underlined a short-lived flight attendant strike at Air Canada last year.
WestJet is Canada’s second-largest airline, and a strike by flight attendants would cancel hundreds of flights per day, snarling the country’s air transportation system.
