As WestJet Airlines faces a surge in flight cancellations over the Canada Day long weekend, heads of the union representing the airline’s striking mechanics have vowed to continue the strike until a new contract agreement is reached.
Brett Estrich, president of the Association of Aircraft Maintenance Engineers and Aircraft Maintenance Professionals (AMFA), told Reuters the two sides were due to meet again on Sunday with a mediator, but the strike was likely to continue as long as talks continued.
“All we want is to get back to the negotiating table,” Estrich said. “The strike will continue until an agreement is reached.”
WestJet sent an emailed update to CBC News on Sunday afternoon, saying 832 flights have been canceled so far, including 78 scheduled for Monday, July 1, and three scheduled for Tuesday, July 2.
AMFA represents about 680 WestJet workers, including aircraft mechanics, and went on strike on Friday after 97 percent of its members rejected a wage deal reached in May.
WestJet mechanics decided to go on strike starting Friday night. The move came as a surprise to many, as the union and the airline were heading toward binding arbitration. Here’s what happened with the strike and how it’s affecting airline passengers.
Oestreich said the first-year financial difference between the two sides is about 7 percent, or less than $8 million over the roughly four-year contract.
The workers, whose duties include daily inspections and repairs essential to the airline’s operations, went on strike despite a binding arbitration order from the federal labour minister.
Both the airlines and AMFA accuse the other side of refusing to negotiate in good faith.
77% of Sunday trips canceled: flight tracker
As of Sunday morning, 77 percent of flights for the day had been canceled, according to tracking service FlightAware, with WestJet leading the way in cancellations among major airlines on Saturday and Sunday.
WestJet President Diederick Penn highlighted the union’s “continued reckless behavior” in a “blatant effort” to disrupt Canadians’ travel plans, while the union claims the Calgary-based airline is refusing to comply with its latest counterproposal.
WestJet CEO Alexis von Hornsbroek had harsh words for the union representing the airline’s mechanics after a strike was called over the Canada Day long weekend.
At a press conference at WestJet headquarters in Calgary on Saturday morning, both Penn and the company’s CEO, Alexis von Hohensbroek, reiterated that they were outraged and heartbroken by the strike, which Hohensbroek called “completely absurd.”
“The reason we are actually going on strike is because we may need to apply pressure at the negotiating table. If there is no negotiating table, then a strike makes no sense,” he said.
He said such actions would only make the situation “more difficult and of greater magnitude.”
“This is very destructive behavior, and it’s being perpetrated by rogue unions from the United States who are basically infiltrating Canada and trying to introduce very unusual practices here,” von Hohensbroach said.
State premiers call for more action from federal government
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, in a post on X, known as Twitter, on Sunday afternoon, called on the federal government to “end today’s strike.”
“With hundreds of flights canceled and tens of thousands of Canadians left in limbo, the federal government must act to ensure work continues through a binding arbitration process,” Moe said.
Those sentiments were echoed by Alberta Premier Daniel Smith, who on Sunday called on the Canadian government to “make clear the expectation that work must continue during binding arbitration.”
With tens of thousands of Albertans and Canadians stranded around the world, the WestJet mechanics strike must end.
The Labor Board’s decision to allow the strike to continue during binding arbitration is a clear violation of all norms, practices and… pic.twitter.com/N38r9sJUdR