WestJet Airlines strike to continue until agreement with mechanics is reached, union says | World News

By Allison Lampert

MONTREAL, – A strike by WestJet Airlines mechanics that resulted in hundreds of canceled flights over the long Canadian holiday weekend will continue until an agreement is reached, the union’s president told Reuters on Sunday.

Bret Oestreich, president of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, said the two sides would meet again on Sunday with a mediator. The union represents about 680 WestJet workers, including aircraft maintenance technicians, who went on strike on Friday after 97 percent of its members rejected a collective agreement negotiated in May.

“We just want to get back to the negotiating table,” said Oestreich. “The strike will continue until we reach an agreement.”

He said the economic difference between the two sides in the first year of a contract that lasts about four years would be about 7%, or less than $8 million.

WestJet Airlines announced on Sunday that another 410 flights had been cancelled overnight on the third day of the strike, bringing the total to over 800 flights.

“WestJet has received a binding arbitration award and is urgently awaiting clarification from the government that a strike and arbitration cannot take place simultaneously,” said airline president Diederik Pen.

On Saturday, WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech blamed the union for the disruptions and argued that management was refusing to negotiate.

“Their sole purpose was to inconvenience as many Canadian travellers as possible,” he said.

Pen told reporters on Saturday that the airline expects to carry around 70,000 passengers a day over the long weekend of July 1. He said the airline could maintain minimum operations with 30 to 50 aircraft and around 150 flights a day.

The strike has frustrated travellers over the long weekend in Canada, who took to social media to complain about cancelled family holidays or being stuck on planes.

Canadian Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan has called on WestJet and the union to resolve their differences and reach an agreement.

In order to prevent the strike, O’Regan had asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to settle the contract dispute through binding arbitration.

While the board agreed to arbitration, it stated that O’Regan’s referral “does not constitute a suspension of the right to strike or lockout.”

Oestreich said the union, which has legal rights to strike, wants a negotiated deal rather than an agreement imposed by an arbitrator.

WestJet said it offered a 12.5% ​​pay increase in the first year of the agreement and a cumulative 23% pay increase over the term of the agreement.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications.