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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.

Sign your union card today!

Watch this special message for Porter Cabin Crew from CUPE’s National President Mark Hancock.

CUPE has 40 years experience as Canada’s flight attendant union, and together we can make sure that you, the cabin crew who keep this industry in the air, share in your airline’s success and have a stronger say and a bigger paycheck at the end of a long duty day.

Sign your card today!

With so many folks reaching out to learn more about CUPE we thought this would be the perfect time for another info session. You are invited to join us on Zoom April 29th at 13:30EST. We are thrilled that we will be joined by CUPE’s Airline Division President Wesley Lesosky. Wesley is an Air Canada flight attendant, a longstanding leader for flight attendants, and a national voice on ending unpaid work in the airline industry.

This will be an opportunity to learn about CUPE, the process of forming a union for Porter cabin crew, and to get your questions answered. You can also learn about how you can join the Unify Porter campaign to help make positive change in your workplace.

Send us an email at porter@cupe.ca for Zoom login info.

April 29^th, 2024, 13:30EST-15:00 EST

We’re devastated for the flight attendants and all the workers at Lynx Air who will lose their jobs on Sunday at midnight.

It’s important to remember that while this is difficult news for flight attendants at Lynx, they are better off for belonging to CUPE. As union members, CUPE will be able to represent them and defend their rights, assist them through this transition, and ensure they receive everything they are legally entitled to as a result of Lynx Air’s decision to shutter its operations.

In the beginning, Lynx flight attendants reached out to CUPE because they wanted someone to be their voice, and CUPE will advocate vigorously on their behalf throughout the process ahead. CUPE has a proud history of success in achieving strong settlements for workers when companies are forced to shut down.

It is also crucial to underline one last thing: the employees’ decision to unionize had nothing to do with the company’s decision to close operations. The company has said so itself, stating that it was losing investors and didn’t have the capital to support continued operations.

This is a difficult day for everyone in our industry. Let’s keep the cabin crew at Lynx in our thoughts this weekend and in the days and weeks ahead.

We’re doing it for The Gram (and for your rights at work too).

Sorry. Had to.

But seriously, we are excited to be bringing our campaign to unify Porter flight attendants to social media.

We launched an Instagram page a few days ago, and we would love if you’d give us a follow @unifyporternow.

Please share with your friends and colleagues and help us extend our reach.

Oh, and if you haven’t already, sign your card to join CUPE and expand your rights at work today.

Earlier this week, Porter announced it will be opening three new jet bases later this year in Ottawa, Montreal, and Vancouver. This is awesome news! As a flight attendant union, CUPE supports growth and job creation in the sector.

But we also know how important it is for flight attendants to have someone looking out for them while companies pursue rapid expansion on a big scale – so that nobody is left behind in the shuffle.

A union can help protect you and your rights at work while your airline expands and grows.

A union would work to establish a fair process to manage flow, so the procedure for determining who is assigned to which base and which aircraft type is done fairly.

A union will also ensure you have the proper training to work on your new aircraft type, if that is changing as well.

A union can also help flight attendants at Porter protect and expand moving allowances if you’re required to change your base of operations.

Want to make sure you’re looked after as Porter expands? Sign your union card today.

Flight attendants at Lynx Air are just the latest to vote to join CUPE. Approximately 240 Lynx cabin crew based at Calgary and Toronto-Pearson will now have the protection and benefit of union membership. Will cabin crew at Porter be next?

The issues facing cabin crew at Lynx aren’t so different from the ones facing cabin crew at Porter. They want more control over their schedule, better compensation for long duty days, and a contract that addresses concerns over fatigue and compensation.

Now, with Canada’s flight attendant union in their corner, they’ll have the resources and tools to go out and make it a reality.

CUPE now represents flight attendants at 11 different airlines – small, medium, and large. Since 1984, CUPE has been working to make life better for flight attendants in Canada, and they are ready to bring those 40 years of experience and expertise to bear for flight attendants at Porter.

We love our jobs – let’s make them even better with the help of Canada’s flight attendant union.

Sign your card to join CUPE today!

One of the biggest differences when you have a union is that when your bosses break the rules, you have a union in your corner to help make things right.

When you form a union your work rules and working conditions are codified into a contract,  more commonly known as a collective agreement. This agreement is negotiated between your union – specifically, the employees elected to the bargaining committee – and your employer. Collective agreements are legally binding, meaning both employees and employer have to respect and follow the collective agreement. If your employer breaches the collective agreement your union can file a complaint, known as a grievance.

The process for filing a grievance is slightly different in every collective agreement, but most tend to follow similar steps that increasingly escalate. In the early stages of a grievance, the individual or union local has a discussion with the employer. This process continues through different stages in the hopes of resolving the issue.

If it is still not resolved, a local may decide to refer a grievance to arbitration. Arbitration is sort of like a labour court, where an independent arbitrator will issue a final decision on the grievance. Knowing that a matter can be referred to arbitration is often incentive for an employer to try to resolve the issue sooner – and often, it’s an incentive not to breach the collective agreement in the first place!

That’s a world of difference from where we are with Porter today. Right now, if Porter doesn’t follow the FOAG, there are no consequences, and as employees, we have no means to hold them accountable. But with a union, we will have a process in place if Porter does not respect and follow the rules.

Have questions about grievances, or anything else to do with forming a union? Contact us at porter@cupe.ca.

And if you’re ready to sign your card and expand your rights at work, sign your union card today.

To have a strong union that is equipped to go to bat for better pay and working conditions, union members make contributions to their union known as “dues”.

As a CUPE member, you’ll have a say in how your union local spends your dues so you can be sure you’re getting good value for your dues money. Each CUPE local sets its own dues structure, depending on its own needs and priorities. Typically, average dues are 1.5% of regular wages, with 0.85% going to National dues. The remaining percentage for local dues is voted on by the membership – in other words, you!

What are you getting in exchange for union dues? In short, a lot.

Your dues help pay for staff provided by CUPE – like lawyers, researchers, and pay equity, health and safety, and communications specialists – who will help you negotiate a strong contract and make gains at the bargaining table.

Your dues also cover the costs of the daily operations of your union local, like office expenses, newsletters, trainings and events.

A portion of your dues also goes to a special fund to ensure you have the resources to defend your jobs and your wages in the event of job action.

Altogether, for pennies on the dollar, your dues help ensure there’s a strong union looking out for you, your livelihood, and your safety while you’re on the job.

Importantly, your union dues are also tax deductible.

With CUPE, you get your money’s worth – and then some!

Sign your union card to join CUPE today!

As we’ve seen time and time again,  Porter can make changes to our working conditions whenever they want – to make them better, or worse.

This month, Porter is implementing its new 24-hour reserve policy, which is making it very difficult for many of you to manage your work-life balance and hold a second job. Porter has also decided to arbitrarily issue reserve conversion with little explanation for the change.

In recent months, Porter has shown they can give cabin crew the job improvements they deserve when they want to – and they can also take our rights away whenever they feel like it.

Without a union (and an enforceable collective agreement), anything Porter gives out today, they can take away tomorrow. That’s just the sad reality.

Employers always float wage increases and new perks when they’re under pressure from union drives, only to claw them back later.

The company has been hoping their promise of a wage bump for some employees on the former B-scale would distract from the unfair changes they’ve made to the reserve policy and increasing the length of your duty day without a comparable duty premium. WestJet flight attendants, for example, who are represented by CUPE, receive a $200 duty premium for minutes 1-60 beyond a maximum duty period and $400 for minutes 61-120 after that.

Porter talks a lot about how these new changes finally bring the company in line with industry standards. But we don’t want to simply carry on chasing industry standards – we want to set our own, and with a union, we can.

Without a union, Porter can give, but they also can (and will) take away.

With a union, Porter won’t be able to make changes to our contract or take away our hard-fought wins arbitrarily. With a union, we’ll have a strong, united voice, and an enforceable contract to protect and advance our working conditions.

Let’s show the company we’re determined to have a voice. If you haven’t already, sign your card today. Signing a union card is a two-step process: after you’ve signed up, you will also need to pay a federally-mandated $5 application which is required by the Canada Industrial Relations Board. You can now pay your fee via e-transfer to porter@cupe.ca – easy-peasy!