Porter talks a lot about benchmarking and how they work with the FOAG committee. But in reality, changes to our wages and working conditions only happen if and when the company wants them to.
Benchmarking, in other words, is Porter’s practice of picking and choosing items from collective agreements negotiated by flight attendants at other airlines, and selectively applying them at Porter according to what’s best for the company – but not necessarily according to what’s best for cabin crew.
For example, Porter looks to Air Canada to benchmark things like 24-hour reserve, but they would never use Air Canada as a benchmark for wages. (Side note: if Porter is looking for a new benchmark for wages, perhaps they should benchmark Air Transat, where CUPE flight attendants recently negotiated a new starting wage of $39.21 per hour in November 2024.)
What works for cabin crew at other airlines may not work for cabin crew at Porter.
That is precisely why Porter cabin crew need and deserve a collective agreement of our own. We need and deserve to set our own terms, using our own independent research (which we’ll get as part of CUPE, with a dedicated airline sector researcher). We deserve to chart our own path.
Rather than following standards set at other airlines, that the company picks and chooses as it pleases, we should be setting the standard – for ourselves and for our whole industry.
With a union, we can negotiate better wages and a better quality of life.
With a union, we can be industry leaders – instead of industry followers.