Canada

Nearly a year after Air Canada flight attendants forced unpaid work in the airline industry onto the national agenda, the issue is once again at the centre of a brewing labour dispute.

More than 4,400 WestJet flight attendants, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 8125, have delivered an unmistakable rebuke to the company. On July 15, the union announced that 99.4 per cent of workers voted to authorize a strike, with a turnout of 97.3 per cent. As was the case with Air Canada flight attendants last summer, this is one of the strongest strike mandates in recent Canadian labour history.

The vote does not automatically trigger a walkout at WestJet, but it does authorize the union to call a strike with 72 hours of notice following a statutory “cooling-off” period. This puts the union in a position to hit the picket lines as early as August 2, over one of the busiest holiday weekends for air travel.