Have you noticed just how many changes Porter has made to our compensation and work rules recently? Since the very first day of our union drive, the company has suddenly become very concerned with keeping cabin crew happy.
As cabin crew, we love our jobs. But we believe things can always be better. The company disputed that notion in a recent email. They say there’s no guarantee a union will make our jobs better, but to that say we say: it already has! Our union drive has already proven that collective action can and will make positive changes in our jobs.
We don’t even have a union yet, and the company is already responding to pressure from our union drive and our growing collective strength with positive changes to our pay and our working conditions.
As cabin crew, we have so much more power to improve our compensation and our work rules when we work together. Here’s proof our union drive is already working:
- Last summer, we started talking about ending unfair two-tier wage scales that force junior employees to do the same work as their colleagues for significantly less pay. Shortly thereafter, Porter removed the B-scale.
- With its Unpaid Work Won’t Fly campaign, CUPE’s airline division has been lobbying the federal government to change the federal labour code to ban unpaid work in our industry, and fully pay flight attendants for all hours worked. Our union drive has also been highlighting this unfair practice in our industry. And on the very same day legislation was tabled in the House of Commons to make the changes we’ve been fighting for, Porter announced they will start half-pay for boarding next year. Once again, the company is playing catch-up with half-measures.
- In January, the company abruptly implemented its 24-hour reserve policy, which had a major negative impact on the ability of many cabin crew to keep a predictable schedule and maintain our other commitments in life. Our union drive took aim at these unfair measures, and the company repealed them last week.
- In past years Porter has consistently used smaller carriers with lower wages for benchmarking. But in the year the company is facing a union drive that is calling on them to start using Air Canada and Air Transat (who have negotiated the highest wages in the industry through CUPE) as comparators on wages, the company started using those airlines for benchmarking.
These aren’t just happy coincidences. This is hard proof that our union drive is already working in our collective favour, and proof that things can only get better from here.
If we can accomplish all of these changes together before we have even certified our union, imagine everything we could achieve with a real union and a real contract.
Think about all the positive changes we could make to keep on improving not just our wages and our work rules, but our per diems, our sick days, our representation in disciplinary meetings, and so much more.
We love our jobs, and by signing a union card, you’re joining hundreds of your coworkers in signing up for positive change at your job. With the the powerful advocacy and collective efforts of Porter cabin crew, these positive changes that will only continue to grow as our union grows stronger. Sign your union card today.