WestJet says the ongoing strike by the mechanics union is forcing it to cancel more flights, which will disrupt the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers over this Canada Day long weekend.
In a
news release issued Sunday, June 30, the Calgary-based airline says the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) was continuing to strike, leaving it no choice but to proceed with further cancellations that will extend to July 2.
“Missed vacation goers, stranded business travellers and long-weekend family reunions have been disrupted due to AMFA’s action to strike, and we are sincerely sorry to the tens of thousands of Canadians that have experienced the compounding impacts of this unnecessary work stoppage,” Diederik Pen, president of WestJet Airlines and chief operating officer of Westjet Group, said in the release.
Mr. Pen added that WestJet continues to hold the view that the union’s strike “serves no purpose other than to inflict maximum damage” to the carrier and the country.
“WestJet is in receipt of a binding arbitration order and await[s] urgent clarity from the government that a strike and arbitration cannot exist simultaneously,” he said.
The airline
initiated flight cancellations on June 26 to prepare for the AMFA’s threat of strike. The
union, however, argued that WestJet’s “unwillingness to negotiate with the union made the strike inevitable.”
Airplane mechanics hit the pickets the evening of June 28.
It was a surprise move by the 680-odd WestJet workers, coming a day after federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan issued an
order for binding arbitration on June 27.
That
followed two weeks of turbulent discussions between the carrier and the union on a new deal, after the union announced June 12 that more than 97 percent of eligible members voted down a tentative agreement that had been reached on May 5.
‘Misuse of the Right to Strike’
WestJet has now cancelled 832 flights between Thursday, June 27, and Tuesday, July 2, according to its
June 30 news release, with 424 trips called off on Sunday alone.
In addition, the release indicated 284 flights were cancelled on June 29, while 78 will be called off on July 1, and 3 on July 2.“Today’s cancellations are accompanied by the airline parking additional aircraft as it reduces its fleet to approximately 32 active tails. WestJet will operate a reduced schedule with the remaining fleet for as long as the labour action continues,” the news release said.
In its earlier news release, from late Saturday, June 29, the airline said it had cancelled 407 flights between June 27 and July 2 and estimated that the strike would disrupt the travel plans of more than 49,000 passengers. Alexis von Hoensbroech, CEO of WestJet, took to his LinkedIn page on June 29, saying the union’s decision to call for a strike despite Mr. O’Regan’s arbitration order “is a
misuse of the right to strike.”
“Strikes and lockouts are important and legitimate tools to apply pressure during collective bargaining processes,” he wrote. “However, once the parties are in arbitration, there is no more bargaining taking place, so a strike no longer influences the outcome.”
Mr. von Hoensbroech added that the AMFA, which represents the carrier’s aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) and technical operations team, is engaged in “bad faith actions.”
“By still going on strike, the union [AMFA] is doing nothing more than creating damage and disrupting potentially hundreds of thousands of guests, without any benefit for their membership.”
‘Sacred’ Right
In an update to its members on June 29, the AMFA referenced a June 28
order by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) stating that the minister’s arbitration order “does not have the effect of suspending the right to strike or lockout.”
Then on June 30, the union
reiterated its stance, saying the CIRB ruled “yet again” on June 29 that “the AMEs have a right to withhold their labour.”
“Although the compulsory arbitration imposed by the Minister of Labour is scheduled to move forward on an expedited basis, the CIRB has held that, until that process is completed, we are entitled to continue our legal strike,” AMFA said, adding that the AMEs’ right to strike is a “sacred” right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In a
statement posted on X on June 29, Mr. O’Regan noted that the board is independent of the government and that while he respected its decision-making authority, he would meet with the negotiating parties later that day to discuss the matter.
In
a later post on the same day, the minister said he had met with WestJet and AMFA and asked them to work together with the CIRB to resolve their differences and get their first agreement done.
“There’s a lot at stake here. Canadians need this resolved,” he said.
The Associated Press and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
