In wake of the covid-19 pandemic that is causing a global health and financial crisis internationally, workers across Canada are experiencing either temporary unemployment or have been fired due to the diminishing demand for goods and services associated with social distancing and mass quarantine. Although several industries have been greatly affected, Canadian airlines faced drastic drop-offs in the demand for flights that have led WestJet and Air Canada to lay off a substantial number of their workers. Of the 14,000 employees who work for WestJet, approximately 6,900 workers have been let go either permanently or temporarily (Reynolds, 2020). These departures consisted of early retirements, involuntary, and voluntary leaves (Reynolds, 2020). Although there are still 7100 employees working for WestJet, they are doing so at reduced hours and pay, as the company cannot withstand the lack of demand associated with the pandemic (Reynolds, 2020). In addition to this downsizing from WestJet, Air Canada has also laid off more than 5,000 flight attendants, with an additional 4400 pilots who are currently unable to work due to the current pandemic conditions (Canadian Press, 2020). Although Prime Minister Trudeau has committed to giving $2000 a month to Canadians who have suffered unemployment due to this crisis (Slepian, 2020), both employment relations and moral will be negatively impacted for the foreseeable future, which leads to the question of how employment relations can possibly be repaired. I believe that airline workers must be protected from unexpected job loss to ensure that no employee is left behind in times of crisis.
Employee relations in the airline industry will undoubtedly be impacted for several reasons. Firstly, since approximately 50% of workers were able to maintain their current positions amid the crisis, while the other half of workers were laid off, the tensions between employees and employers is at an all time high. This is the case because even if certain workers can become re-employed after the pandemic is resolved, it is unlikely that these relations will ever be the same. Since management had to make the difficult decision of who to keep and who to let go, certain employees will feel undervalued and unappreciated when they inevitably return to the company. Additionally, there will be foreseeable tensions between the workers who were laid off and those who were not, which could elicit a toxic work environment where some employees will not trust one another and partisanship between each type of worker will just continue to grow. As well, certain employees may never feel a sense of belonging with the company because they will feel that they are expendable to management.
Although no one could have predicted the impact that covid-19 would have on the world in terms of both public health and the economy, the fact that so many workers are without jobs is detrimental to their wellbeing. I believe that this pandemic has highlighted the expendability of airline employees and has illustrated the importance of job protection in the industry. In order to resolve employee relations, I believe that all airline workers, once they have worked for the company for at least one year, must be guaranteed at least three months pay if they are let go. Since the average Air Canada salary is approximately $63,000 a year (PayScale, 2020), it would be very difficult for most workers to find jobs with comparable pay. Since this is the case, these employees must have a guaranteed source of income if they are let go, as $2000 a month from the government is likely insufficient for many workers who have the primary source of income in their families. Additionally, I think that this guaranteed income will provide workers with the opportunity to get back on their feet and mitigate the stress of being unemployed.
References:
PayScale. (2020). Average Air Canada Salary in Canada. Retrieved from https://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Employer=Air_Canada/Salary
Reynolds, Christopher. (2020, March 24). WestJet announces layoffs for nearly 50% of staff due to Covid-19, Air Canada reduces pilots. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/6725938/westjet-air-canada-layoffs-covid-19/
Slepian, Katya. (2020, March 25). Trudeau unveils new $2000 per month benefit to streamline Covid-19 aid. Victoria News. Retrieved from https://www.vicnews.com/news/trudeau-unveils-new-2000-per-month-benefit-to-streamline-covid-19-aid/
The Canadian Press. (2020, March 20). Air Canada lays off more than 5,000 flight attendants amid Covid-19 pandemic. CTV News. Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/air-canada-lays-off-more-than-5-000-flight-attendants-amid-covid-19-pandemic-1.4861013
Seth Abelson 