A possible long weekend strike at WestJet was averted.
On Thursday, the federal government ordered the airline and aircraft mechanics to settle their dispute in binding arbitration, avoiding a work stoppage that would have otherwise resulted in flight cancellations for hundreds of thousands of travelers over the Canada Day long weekend.
In a late afternoon social media post, Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said he was invoking his authority under the Canadian Labour Code to end the impasse between the two sides as the clock ticked toward a Friday evening deadline.
“Strong initial agreements have put unions and employers on the path to collective bargaining,” O’Regan said in a statement.
“They lay a solid foundation to build on at the negotiating table and bring the parties one step closer to a strong second and an even stronger third agreement – achieved at the negotiating table. That’s what we want to see here.”
Both WestJet and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said they would comply with the order and that strikes and lockouts were not planned.
“The government’s actions have protected Canadians’ summer travel plans and we have a path to resolution,” said Diederik Pen, president of WestJet Airlines. After more than a dozen flights on Thursday, no further cancellations are planned.
The union, which had opposed arbitration by the country’s labor court, struck a less optimistic tone.
“There is no modern precedent for the minister’s actions,” said a statement from the union’s negotiating committee. However, it added that it would call on the 680 or so employees “to refrain from any unlawful industrial action”.
Union members overwhelmingly rejected a tentative deal earlier this month and fought WestJet’s request for intervention by the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
In response to this call, the mechanics’ union initially issued a 72-hour strike notice to the company on June 17, after which WestJet canceled nearly 50 flights last week before both sides agreed to resume negotiations.
The second strike announcement came on Tuesday amid tense negotiations over the collective agreement – it was the first between WestJet and the union.
The Calgary-based airline had already begun canceling flights this week, canceling around 25 flights on Thursday and Friday in anticipation of possible industrial action as early as 5:30 p.m. MDT on Friday. By concentrating its 180-plane fleet, which affects around 3,300 customers, WestJet has sought to avoid leaving planes at far-flung locations and stranding passengers and crew in the event of a work stoppage.
As negotiations over the contract dragged on in a windowless conference room at a hotel near Toronto Pearson Airport, the tone of the statements from both sides became increasingly abrasive.
On Wednesday, the airline asked the court to overturn the latest strike notice and ban future strikes – unless the Labor Department agrees. The affidavit, filed by lawyer Simon Mortimer, said the union was “backtracking” in negotiations and pointed to a counter-offer from workers that included “a 50 percent cost increase” over the tentative agreement.
The union’s wage demands suggested that it had not acted in good faith and its public statements had contained “inflammatory” and “offensive” elements, the document said.
The union – the majority of whose WestJet members are aircraft maintenance technicians (AMEs) who inspect every active aircraft daily – claimed the airline was resorting to “false accusations” and “confrontational politics”.
In a statement, the mechanics’ bargaining committee responded: “WestJet claims that a strike at AME would ‘put the company and travelers at risk at a critical time.’ It is difficult to imagine a more inflammatory or offensive comment.”
Ian Evershed, a union representative involved in the talks, spoke of “some pretty intense moments” during the negotiations.
“We simply don’t see any progress,” he said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
Just over a year ago, the airline found itself in a similar situation after around 1,800 pilots threatened to strike. WestJet managed to avoid a strike by reaching a last-minute agreement in the early hours before a long weekend in May, but not before cancelling more than 230 flights and disrupting the travel plans of thousands of passengers.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board may choose not to suspend the right to stop work during the drafting of a collective agreement, but precedent and testimony from both parties suggest that this outcome is not likely.
Both sides are scheduled to meet with the tribunal on Friday. “The panel will then determine the next steps or take the necessary decisions, as appropriate,” tribunal spokesman Jean-Daniel Tardif said in an email.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2024.
Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
