CALGARY — WestJet flight attendants will make their voices heard this week, with a strike mandate vote.

The voting process begins today, July 8, and runs through July 15.

Represented by the WestJet Component of CUPE 8125, the group includes some 4,400 cabin crew members at WestJet mainline.

The vote for a strike mandate is the latest step in the bargaining process. In April 2026 the union issued a formal notice of dispute after more than seven months of negotiations failed to produce what the union describes as meaningful progress on key issues.

At that point the union and airline had met multiple times each month since last September in an effort to reach a new agreement.

At the centre of the dispute is what the union says is a widening gap between the work flight attendants are required to perform and how that work is compensated. According to CUPE 8125, flight attendants are responsible for passenger safety from the moment they report for duty, yet significant portions of that time are not fully compensated under the current system. On average, flight attendants work 35 hours every month unpaid.

Their grievances echo those of Air Canada’s flight attendants. In August 2025 some 10,000 flight attendants for Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge went on strike. That strike completely halted Air Canada operations for three days and later prompted a federal government probe into unpaid work.