WestJet mechanics go on unexpected strike, disrupting travel ahead of the long weekend

On Friday evening, WestJet aircraft mechanics went on strike unexpectedly, threatening to jeopardize the flights of thousands of travelers at the start of the long Canada Day weekend.

If the sudden strike by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) is not ended, Canadians must expect “severe travel disruptions,” WestJet said.

The unexpected industrial action came a day after the airline expressed relief on Thursday that a work stoppage had been averted thanks to a ministerial order for binding arbitration.

The country’s second-largest airline has again called for immediate intervention by the federal labour minister and the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

“We are extremely outraged by these actions and will hold AMFA 100 percent accountable for the unnecessary stress and costs they have caused,” said Diederik Pen, President of WestJet Airlines, in a press release.

A union statement said its roughly 680 WestJet workers walked off the job at 5:30 p.m. MDT. The union argued that the airline’s “unwillingness to negotiate with the union made the strike inevitable.”

However, WestJet said the country’s labor court is currently conducting arbitration to resolve the impasse, so a strike would have no impact on the union and would amount to “pure retaliation.”

Earlier this month, mechanics rejected a tentative contract with the Calgary-based airline, prompting WestJet to demand government intervention, leading to two strike announcements by the union.

Shortly before the deadline on Friday, Employment Minister Seamus O’Regan ordered the airline and the union to enter into binding arbitration on Thursday. This was apparently to prevent a work stoppage that would have disrupted travel options for up to 250,000 passengers over the long weekend.

On Thursday evening, both WestJet and the union announced that they would comply with the order; a work stoppage was apparently no longer conceivable.

“AMFA has confirmed that they will comply with the directive. With this in mind, there will be no strikes or lockouts and the airline will not cancel any more flights,” WestJet said on Thursday.

Therefore, the turnaround on Friday evening was an even bigger shock.

In an update to members obtained by The Canadian Press, the union’s negotiating committee cited the protection of collective action under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It also said that the Industrial Relations Committee had not expressly prohibited strikes and lockouts, while the court was conducting arbitration as directed by O’Regan.

“Since the minister did not comment on this issue in his statement, the constitutional right of AMFA members to strike must take precedence,” the union committee said.

“Since there was no indication that the board would withdraw AMFA’s strike notice, AMFA instructed its members to cease all work.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2024.

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