WestJet contact centre workers in Calgary have voted 89 per cent in favour of joining Unifor, forming a new 750-member bargaining unit.
The unit includes air passenger protection regulations agents and guest services employees working in contact centre operations. The workers will become members of Unifor Local 531 once the Canada Industrial Relations Board completes its certification.
“This campaign was always about contact centre workers standing together and having a say in our future at WestJet,” said Jaee McKenna, a WestJet sales and service agent.
“We worked hard for this, had a lot of conversations with our co-workers and never gave up. Now, we get to take that energy into bargaining and start building our first collective agreement together.”
Unifor’s application was submitted to the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Dec. 18, 2025, following a sustained organizing effort by workers. The vote took place throughout last week.
Workers organized to address concerns about outsourcing, workplace discipline, scheduling and wages, according to Unifor.
“Call centre workers live with constant uncertainty as employers outsource work, shift contracts and close workplaces with little warning,” said Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle.
“These are skilled workers providing essential customer service, and they deserve stable, secure jobs and not to have their livelihoods treated as disposable or precarious. Joining Unifor lets us help them fight back.”
Since October 2024, about 400 Calgary contact centre positions have been transferred to TELUS Digital agents in El Salvador, while WestJet has frozen local hiring, reduced hours, encouraged voluntary departures and pressured some employees to move to part-time, even as call volumes remain high, according to Unifor. The union called on WestJet last year to stop offshoring the Calgary jobs.
“These workers organized because they want a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their jobs and their lives,” said Unifor Organizing Director Justin Gniposky.
“We are so proud of these new members. They showed courage in standing up to a big corporation and demanded better for their workplaces and their livelihoods. Organizing 750 new members creates possibly for change that we hope motivates other workers in aviation and other sectors to unionize.”
Unifor National President Lana Payne said the new members join other WestJet workers already represented by the union.
“We are thrilled to welcome these workers to Unifor. They join with other WestJet workers who are already members of our union,” Payne said.
“Unifor is an experienced voice for workers across the aviation sector, and we look forward to working with these new members on their first collective agreement.”
Organizing momentum among aviation contact centre workers continues to grow. Unifor is currently working with more than 300 Porter Airlines contact centre workers who are organizing to join the union.
Unifor represents 320,000 workers across the private sector, making it Canada’s largest private-sector union.
