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The WestJet Professional Pilot’s Association has asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to conduct a union certification vote.

The association, in a post on its website, said it filed the application for a vote among the Calgary-based airline’s more than 1,200 pilots Monday. If the application is approved, the industrial relations board is expected to oversee a secret ballot vote of all eligible WestJet pilots to determine support for creating a legally recognized union.

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A requirement for requesting a certification vote is demonstrating more than 40 per cent support for the WPPA via membership card count, a threshold the association said it “comfortably” exceeds.

“This will be the first time in WestJet’s 19-plus year history that our pilots will have an independent third party run a completely confidential vote,” the website post states.

WestJetpilots agreed to a four-year contract in December. The separate, non-unionized WestJet Pilots Association currently negotiates on behalf of the airline’s pilots.

Last month, WestJet‘s almost 3,000 flight attendants approved a five-year work agreement with the airline. WestJet said just under 82 per cent of its flight attendants represented by theWestJetFlight Attendant Association Board took part inthe vote.