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We have heard from members across all bases—YVR, YYC, and YYZ—regarding concerns about the recent announcement and training for Main Cabin Door closure. We want to address these concerns and provide an update on the union’s ongoing advocacy on this matter.
The union received notice of this company-directive on May 7, 2025. However, we were not invited to participate in the review or decision-making process. Despite this, our Local President and Unit Chairs proactively raised concerns and questions ahead of the announcement.
Following the training of local ALC members and ahead of the rollout to the frontline, the union continued to voice concerns and escalate discussions with labour relations, base leaders and corporate health and safety. Our main key concerns include:
- Lack of union involvement in the process.
- Risk and Hazard Assessments used to complete the Job Hazard Analysis were conducted exclusively in relation to the CSA role, without fully considering the impact on ALC members. Because of this, we have identified a gap in the lack of a JHA for the ALC position and will be pushing the company to complete this immediately in collaboration with the union.
- Miscommunication regarding the scope of the training which we now understand requires our ALC members to conduct multiple training sessions, opening and closing the MCD up to three per shift, five days a week. We have raised the concern about repetitive strain injuries for our ALC members.
- Rushed rollout with minimal communication to frontline employees, increasing the risk of mistakes and accidents.
- Workplace safety is compromised when changes are rushed.
We are also actively engaging with fellow union workgroups (Pilots, Flight Attendants, Tech Ops) who have experience with this task. It has been communicated to us that all trained personnel, including groomers will be responsible for closing the main cabin door, not just the Airports group. It is highly likely that the groomers will always be the last group to leave the aircraft and therefore the responsible party to close the MCD. However, we need our members to provide us with real-life feedback when training is complete to verify this assumption
We hear you. We understand and share your concerns regarding workplace safety and job task saturation. Please know that we will continue to advocate on your behalf and push for transparency, proper risk assessments, and meaningful union involvement in decisions that impact your work.
We will provide further updates to this article as discussions progress.