On July 30, 2026, CUPE 8125 — a union local representing 4,400 WestJet flight attendants — issued a strike notice to their employer WestJet. Unless a deal is reached soon, these workers could be on strike Sunday, August 2. They need our help to win their demands.
What are they fighting for?
The main sticking point at the bargaining table will be familiar to anyone who remembers the Air Canada flight attendant strike last summer — unpaid labour.
WestJet flight attendants work up to 35 hours a month for free. WestJet only pays them for the time between gate departure and arrival. Everything else is unpaid — from helping passengers with their baggage and boarding to holding on the ground when flight delays arise. I recently took a flight that sat on the tarmac for an hour before taking off. The entire time the flight attendants were working. They answered questions, fetched cups of water, and gave comfort to a panicking passenger who was worried they would miss their connecting flight. They were not paid for this labour.
CUPE 8125 calculates that the hourly wage of a WestJet flight attendant is just over $14 an hour when you factor in this unpaid work. This is well below the federal minimum wage of $18.15. In a year, a full-time junior flight attendant works 1,920 hours but is only paid for 960 flown hours and brings home $27,725. This is wage theft on a massive scale.
We do not know exactly how much profit WestJet makes per year because in 2019 the company was sold to the private equity firm Onex Corp for $5 billion. What we do know is that WestJet made hundreds of millions in profit per year when it was publicly traded and, under private equity control, this maximizing of profits at the expense of their workers and customers has likely only increased.
The capitalists who own WestJet are raking in millions while paying their flight attendants for half of the hours they’re working.
How can the workers win?
WestJet flight attendants are united — 97% of members participated in the strike vote and 99% voted to give the bargaining team strike authorization. They are ready to fight. What remains to be seen is who will stand with them and who will stand with their employer.
A year ago, Air Canada flight attendants went on strike only to receive a back-to-work order from the Carney government less than twelve hours after the picket lines went up. Carney took the side of the employer. The workers defied the order and stayed on strike. The public took the side of the workers. Many saw themselves reflected in the Air Canada flight attendant’s struggle. Unpaid work is a systemic issue that impacts many, especially women and migrant workers. Air Canada flight attendants were able to defeat both Carney and their employer because they held strong on the picket line and had the public’s support. The collective agreement they won included salary bumps of up to 12%, ground pay for at least an hour before flying, and the federal government announced a consultation on unpaid work in the airline sector.
It remains to be seen what Carney will do this time around. After being disciplined last year by workers, it is less likely that he will immediately jump to the defense of the employer and take away WestJet flight attendants’ charter rights to collective bargaining this time around.
Polling indicates that — just as with the Air Canada flight attendants — the public is overwhelmingly on the side of the workers. 84% of respondents agreed that flight attendants should be paid for all work-related duties and only 11% said they support the employer in the dispute. Among WestJet customers, 83% say they would support flight attendants taking strike action.
These are encouraging signs and speak to the potential of CUPE 8125 to secure big wins, but these wins are not guaranteed. Every member of the working class has the duty to show up in solidarity with WestJet flight attendants. This is an opportunity to build off the wins of last summer and prove again that unpaid work is unacceptable, bargaining rights must be respected, and workers are united against corporate greed.
What can I do?
Saturday, August 1 is the last day of negotiations before CUPE 8125 enters a strike position. This is the time for a final push of solidarity to win the workers’ demands and avoid a strike.
Nobody wants to go on strike. Workers go on strike not because they want to but because it is often the only way to get the employer to give them what they deserve. Below is a list of actions you can take to help the workers win their demands.
- Sign the petition: Join the over 82,000 people who have signed the petition calling on WestJet to end unpaid work.
- Talk to your networks: Raise awareness in your workplace, communities, and on social media connecting the WestJet flight attendants’ struggle to our larger struggles.
- Show up at a picket line: If a strike is necessary, look up the picket hours and locations and make a visit. Nothing increases a striking worker’s confidence like seeing that the public is standing shoulder to shoulder with them on the front line.
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