WestJet MEC PIREP Podcast

Episode 49 - Management Meeting, Wellness Checks, & OH&S

• WestJet MEC • Season 3 • Episode 49

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0:00 | 10:05

In this episode, MEC Chair Captain Jacob Astin speaks with MEC Vice Chair First Officer Barret Armann.  Topics discussed include a recent meeting with WestJet management, introducing a communication about the use and investigation of sick time, OH&S news, and a pay equity committee update.

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Jacob Astin:

All right. Good afternoon, uh, Barret. It's the two of us in an empty office right now on, uh, Wednesday the 11th of March. And we're just gonna go over some questions. So I'm gonna kind of do a bit of an interview with you today.

Barret Armann:

Sounds good.

5:

00 PM see how pm End of business day. It's been a long day already,

Jacob Astin:

and I'm already down to Yes. Down to a t-shirt myself. Yeah. Uh, been a very long day. Uh, we're gonna blast right into it here.

Barret Armann:

Sure.

Jacob Astin:

Um. Uh, Barret, the company threw out a few different numbers when it came to potential overstaffing, uh, Jimmy and Porter's latest call mentioned Overstaffing. Um, how do you want the members to understand what actually happened in that room with the management and where thing, where they were getting at with the Overstaffing coming up?

Barret Armann:

So what I love is the new format that's coming out. So, uh, the next fast read that comes out. Uh, actually details a meeting that we had with management about three weeks ago. Uh, it was a virtual meeting after our first introductory that we had about a month prior to that. And we tabled, uh, issues that are facing the pilot group to look for some resolutions and they tabled a couple of issues back to us. Uh, one of them was the vote of non-confidence. And then after Dietrich left, uh, we talked a little bit about overs staffing. Uh, Jimmy, uh, presented that the company was, uh, possibly overstaffed in the shoulder seasons. Uh, forgive me, I think in the update we wrote 20-40, but then it was 20-60, but it could have been 50-40. Uh, that's all detailed in the update that we're sending out. It was a bit ridiculous because. Uh, we thought it was shortsighted. Uh, yes, you could be overstaffed in the shoulder season slightly, but reducing crews or doing anything of that nature is really shortsighted to shave pennies. Uh, you know, the passenger rights fees, the cancellation fees, not having people available to come in on their days off to do flights. Uh, look, this is a business. You carry it through the highs, you carry it through the lows. Uh, you need to rely on your staff and respect them. So really there's no answer for that. I think, uh, they can come through the shortfall and, uh, move forward.

Jacob Astin:

The union called the Overstaffing idea Shortsighted Number crunching. Correct. Um, do you stand behind that and is that the message you want members to take away?

Barret Armann:

I do. Yeah. I think that's, uh, exactly what it's

Jacob Astin:

Dietrich Penn, uh, said he never envisioned crew members commuting from Montreal or Toronto to Vancouver. How significant is that statement to you, and what do you want members to read into it?

Barret Armann:

Uh, so it is significant and the members should read into it that we've tabled it. He's now told us that that's not what they wanted. So I expect a solution.

Jacob Astin:

I know I brought up the Flair's, Flair jumpseat. You did, right? You did. Um, and it's something that the WestJet pilots and flare pilots don't have access to our reciprocal jump seat. Um. You offered to personally call the flair CEO to get the jumpsuit agreement Moving again,

Barret Armann:

Len

Jacob Astin:

Rado.

Barret Armann:

Yes.

Jacob Astin:

Um, has that happened and what should members expect to hear on that front?

Barret Armann:

Well, Dietrich said that he was gonna reach out to Len Carrado'cause he is got his phone number too. Uh, this was about three weeks ago. So no cost item, but would, uh, make everybody's lives a lot easier commuting when they weren't supposed to be commuting, but they are commuting, uh, and we are still waiting to hear.

Jacob Astin:

You mentioned a little bit, a little bit ago here, uh, the, we said they said format of the fast lead. Yes. Can you walk members through what that looks like and why you think it's important?

Barret Armann:

Yeah. I think it's important because if the membership doesn't know what we're talking about or if we're actually bringing their issues to the table with the company to discuss, this is now a way that, Hey, we meet with the company. You tell us what you need. We present it to them, we say, okay, let's, let's come up with some solutions here. And the items that we brought to them were really no cost items. Uh, if the company is serious in improving with the working conditions for, uh, the membership, then they can action those. And this is a way for us to communicate to the membership that, Hey, we've done this. Now we're waiting for a response. And it's up to the company to respond whether they're going to proceed with it and actually assist the membership or not. And if they don't, we'll communicate that too.

Jacob Astin:

In your video notes, you said, um, don't get involved in a witch hunt with the company, uh, for sick time . Is that the tone you want to carry into the written update or, or you want it to dial it back a bit for the fast read audience?

Barret Armann:

I dunno. I think it's appropriate because people do wind up getting themselves into trouble, uh, on sick time. If you're not fit for work, we expect that you book off. If you're on vacation somewhere and you need a couple of extra days, but you are fit for work, we expect that you go to work. Uh, don't get rolled into a witch hunt with the company. Be, uh, strategic, uh, be clear and be honest with them. If you're booking off because you're sick, you're sick. End of story. Uh, the labour code is very clear in terms of your right. Uh, that's in our update along with the collective agreement language.

Jacob Astin:

So speaking of the update, you have it, we're gonna have it attached to this MEC update, uh, with this video. Um, the update's pretty direct about termination risk when it comes to misusing sick time. Are you comfortable with how strong that's worded? Are you worried it might make members hesitant to book off when they're genuinely sick?

Barret Armann:

I hope it doesn't. Uh, if you are genuinely sick, you should book off all the time. Uh, this is just specifically discussing time theft look. If you're playing games, then the company's gonna come after you and we don't wanna see that. And you shouldn't be playing games if you're sick, you're sick if you're not good to go to work'cause you don't feel well book off

Jacob Astin:

a hundred percent. Uh, a lot of members might not realize the company can use their EFB geo-location as evidence in a sick leave investigation.

Barret Armann:

Yeah.

Jacob Astin:

Do you wanna make sure that point really hits home or is it enough that it's mentioned?

Barret Armann:

I think it's enough that it's mentioned. Hey. If you're taking your iPad on vacation and you're calling it sick for three weeks after that, you should be thinking about what you're doing.

Jacob Astin:

How serious is the wellness check situation right now? Is this something members need to treat as an urgent issue or more of a good reminder to keep in their back pocket?

Barret Armann:

I think it's a good reminder to keep in the back pocket and they can read a little bit more about that in, uh, Jeff Roberts and the grievance committee's update.

Jacob Astin:

Speaking of the update, uh, the grievance document went through a lot of revisions before it landed where it did. Are you happy with the final version or do you feel like. Anything important got left on the cutting room floor.

Barret Armann:

I think the final version was appropriate 'cause we don't want anything that's too lengthy for the membership, but we will talk about cutting, pasting and erasing, in a few minutes.

Jacob Astin:

The document tells members they're entitled to have a union rep present before answering any questions from management, should that right be front and center bolded, called out on its own, so there's no chance a member misses it

Barret Armann:

always. Yeah.

Jacob Astin:

Switching to one of your favorite topics of late that you've been doing a lot of work on health and safety.

Barret Armann:

Ooh. Health and safety is a big one. I'm super excited about that one.

Jacob Astin:

You talked about hotels.

Barret Armann:

Yeah.

Jacob Astin:

Dirty flight decks. Yeah. Dangerous conditions. Yeah. All of that falling under health, uh, occupational health and safety. Now, can you explain a little bit to the membership, what you're talking about here?

Barret Armann:

For sure. So what we noticed, uh, when we came in here and I took a look at all the committees and how they were being managed and, uh. I guess the direction they would go and where they were located and who they reported to. We noticed that Central Air and safety, which is more of an SMS type thing, you've got the investigations, uh, and then you had health and safety there. Also, we wanted to separate church and state because one deals specifically with part two Labor Code, uh, one deals with a whole bunch of other areas and we didn't really want them confused. Uh, so we separated it out and the Health and Safety Committee was looking for some more assistance. Uh, so we came in and we found somebody with, uh, decades of experience. His name is, uh, Denton Miller. So he's now chair of the Health and Safety Committee, uh, to strategically look at part two of the Labor Code and correct errors, correct safety issues that we find online every day. And a lot of people don't know exactly what health and safety is or how vast it can be, uh, hotels. If you're in a hotel or you're in a dangerous situation or there's a health problem in that hotel, uh, that's health and safety. If you're in a dirty flight deck that hasn't been cleaned, that's your work environment. That's health and safety. If you look at all of our committees, at some point or another, all of them will have something to do with health and safety. So we wanted to make sure that committee was set on its own. They report directly to me.

Jacob Astin:

So further to that, you, you described the committee separation as church and state.

Barret Armann:

Yeah.

Jacob Astin:

Um, do you wanna explain to members why that separation was necessary?

Barret Armann:

I think it was necessary because you have SMS, which runs through one thing and you have health and safety, which runs through something completely different. That's sort of the separation we're talking about.

Jacob Astin:

Attached to this, uh, communication is a attachment from pay Equity. If you could describe a little bit what that attachment is and where this fits into the whole pilot scheme of things.

Barret Armann:

For sure. So dealing with that committee, uh, they are heading back to the table with WestJet as a group. So all the unions work together in terms of pay equity, uh, and it was put in by the government a number of years ago, although it had stalled here. Uh, we received an email from the company, uh, congratulating and. Uh, being excited to come back to the table 'cause they're allowed to start working again. Uh, the actual facts are in the fast read if you read it.

Jacob Astin:

Excellent. Thank you Barret. Um, last but not least, we're actually heading to Valo, which is in Washington, DC next week. Uh, it's your first time gonna Valo

Barret Armann:

it is.

Jacob Astin:

What do you hope to accomplish down in, uh, Washington?

Barret Armann:

I hope to see what services they've got for us that we can utilize going forward. That's what I'm excited about.

Jacob Astin:

Spectacular. So, well, we intend to do some video from down in Valo.

Barret Armann:

Yeah.

Jacob Astin:

And so that's likely our next video after this one. Um, and I really look forward to sharing with the membership, a lot of the services, uh, that ALPA offers, uh, especially going into a negotiations here. Um, thank you very much guys for tuning in. Thanks.