The Unifor union says Transport Canada and the Competition Bureau must consider that WestJet's acquisition of Sunwing may have "a deep and negative effect on Canadian jobs."
Unifor represents 16,000 members across Canada in the aviation sector, including nearly 2,000 directly affected by the potential acquisition of Sunwing by WestJet. There are also 550 members who work for Swissport, a contract company doing work for Sunwing in Vancouver and Toronto and 41 members at ATS, who perform work contracted by WestJet.
Unifor made the statement in a "public interest submission" to Transport Canada.
"Unifor is concerned that, despite the promises made to create jobs, this acquisition will actually lead to more sub-contracted work with lower wages and precarious conditions," said Scott Doherty, Executive Assistant to Unifor's National President. "Not only that, the number of jobs may also decline."
On March 2, 2022, Sunwing and WestJet announced that WestJet would purchase Sunwing, pending regulatory approvals.
In the filing, Unifor recommended the Canadian government should block the acquisition unless WestJet can guarantee job creation, invest in workers across the company to improve job quality and customer experience, and respect and accept existing collective agreements.
Unifor's intervention comes at a time when both Sunwing and WestJet are struggling to boost staffing levels to cope with surging travel demand.
There are other points of friction between the two companies and workers. Earlier this month, Sunwing pilots filed a complaint at the Canada Industrial Relations Board, alleging their employer bargained in bad faith during a recent round of negotiations because the employer already knew the company was being sold to WestJet. Sunwing denied the claim.
"We know how working in aviation currently feels like a pressure cooker environment from our members," said Leslie Dias, Unifor's Director of Airlines. "We've heard stories of verbal abuse and burnout from our WestJet workers. This merger between Sunwing and WestJet needs to make the industry better, not worse."
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