July 3, 2025
Fellow Porter pilots,
Your Porter Pilots for Change ALPA Organizing Committee is proud to announce that, with the help of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l, we have filed our membership cards with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). This demonstrates that a strong majority of our pilots seek trade union representation.
The CIRB will now request a response (including a list of eligible pilots) from Porter and will appoint one of its Industrial Relations Officers to investigate the application--this may include contacting Porter pilots who signed a card to confirm its authenticity. Remember, the cards are confidential and never shared with the company.
Once the CIRB completes its investigation into our application for certification it will decide whether to grant our request for certification. We expect this process to take approximately 30 days. When the CIRB approves our application for certification, we will immediately become part of ALPA and have full access to the resources of the world’s largest pilots' union.
Porter is a strong company with a great culture and the Porter pilots have been a huge part of making the airline what it is today. As our company continues to grow in new markets, including the Caribbean, we will have ALPA representation for all Porter pilots around the world. With ALPA representation, we can continue building a constructive relationship with management, using ALPA support and expertise to negotiate a legally enforceable contract under the Canada Labour Code. Together as a pilot group, we are an important stakeholder at Porter; joining ALPA will only enhance our capacity to contribute to the company's success.
By joining ALPA, Porter pilots will bolster the Association's 79,000-pilot-strong advocacy group. This helps to improve: collective bargaining; aviation safety, security, jumpseat and pilot assistance programs. Furthermore, it allows us to improve the future of the profession by addressing domestic and international issues in areas as important as federal regulation and the public's perception of us as professionals.
The entire Organizing Committee wants to thank each of you who have made this possible. Whether or not you signed a card, it’s imperative that we all come together as we work toward making Porter an even greater place to work!
Look for updates during the CIRB process, along with more details about ALPA representation. We encourage everyone to check out our Organizing Committee website as well, at poe.alpa.org, to learn more about the Association and its resources. You can also read all past communications from the Organizing Committee there as well as FAQs.
Once certified under ALPA as one unified pilot group, we must remain involved, engaged, and focused. It's time!