May 12, 2023

Fellow Keewatin Air pilots,

Your Keewatin Air ALPA Organizing Committee is proud to announce that, with the aid of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), we have filed our membership cards with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), demonstrating that our pilot group seeks trade union representation. 

The CIRB will now request information from Keewatin Air management, including a list of eligible pilots, and will conduct an investigation into our application, which may include contacting those of you who signed a card to confirm its authenticity. Please note that the cards signed by pilots are never shared with management. When the CIRB completes their investigation, it will announce its decision regarding our request for certification. We expect this process to take approximately three to four weeks. 

The entire Organizing Committee wants to thank each of you who have made this possible. After we are certified by the CIRB, you will be hearing from ALPA as we begin the process, as a pilot group, of electing our permanent representatives, and negotiating our collective agreement under the Canada Labour Code. We will also soon have access to the ALPA Air Safety Organization, the world’s largest nongovernmental safety organization, with a proven record of accomplishments, and be represented by the very best pilot-focused legal and aeromedical advisors. We will also have a full suite of insurance options available to us, designed by pilots, for pilots.

Look for an update when the CIRB completes its review process. Once certified under ALPA, we must remain involved, engaged, and focused. You can follow along on our website, http://kew.alpa.org. It’s time!

In Unity,

The Keewatin Air ALPA Organizing Committee