WestJet mechanics go on strike, unexpected move disrupts travel ahead of long weekend

WestJet plane mechanics protested Friday night in a surprise move that threatened to disrupt flights for thousands of travelers at the start of the Canada Day long weekend.

Canadians can expect “serious travel disruptions” if the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) strike is not called off, WestJet said in a statement.

The sudden strike action by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) comes a day after WestJet expressed relief at avoiding a work stoppage with a binding arbitration ministerial order on Thursday and after two weeks of wrangling turbulent with the union.

The country’s second largest airline has once again requested immediate intervention from the federal Minister of Labor and the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

“We are extremely outraged by these actions and will hold AMFA 100 per cent accountable for the unnecessary stress and costs incurred as a result,” WestJet Airlines President Diederik Pen said in a statement.

The union said in a statement that its approximately 680 WestJet employees walked off the job at 5:30 p.m. MDT, saying the carrier’s “unwillingness to negotiate with the union made the strike inevitable.”

However, WestJet said that because a future collective agreement is now in the hands of the country’s labor court, a strike gives the union no leverage and amounts to “pure retaliation.”

Earlier this month, mechanics voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative agreement with the Calgary-based airline, prompting WestJet to seek government intervention and resulting in two strike notices of 72 hours issued by the union – the first was canceled last week.

With the clock ticking towards Friday’s deadline, Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan on Thursday ordered the airline and union to seek binding arbitration, apparently avoiding a work stoppage that would have upended plans for up to 250,000 passengers during one of the biggest travel weekends of the year.

On Thursday evening, WestJet and the union both said they would follow the order, with a strike apparently out of the question.

“AMFA has confirmed that it will respect the directive. In light of this, no strikes or lockouts will take place and the airline will no longer cancel flights,” WestJet said Thursday.

Friday night’s turnaround therefore came as an even greater shock to leaders and travellers alike.

“Is my Sunday flight compromised? asked Andrew Wheatley of Edmonton in a social media post.

No other flights were cancelled Friday night, WestJet spokeswoman Morgan Bell said in an email. But as of midnight, weekend travel remained in limbo as mechanics are needed to inspect and repair planes daily.

Bell said there was “no security risk to our operations.”

In an update to members, the union’s negotiating committee cited protections for collective action under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He also said the industrial relations board had not explicitly prohibited strikes and lockouts while the court had undertaken arbitration in accordance with O’Regan’s directive.

“Given that the minister’s referral remained silent on this issue, the constitutional right of AMFA members to strike must prevail,” the union committee said.

“Having had no indication that the Board of Directors would revoke AMFA’s strike notice, AMFA ordered its members to cease all work. »

Tensions between the two sides have almost reached the breaking point over the past month.

The strike notices have forced WestJet to cancel about 70 flights since June 20, affecting about 10,000 passengers and potentially costing the company millions of dollars. The carrier’s decision to begin concentrating its fleet of 180 planes was intended to avoid leaving planes in remote locations and stranding passengers and crew during work stoppages.

As contract negotiations continued this week in a windowless conference room at a hotel near Toronto’s Pearson Airport, the tone of statements issued by both sides became increasingly sour.

The union’s contract demands demonstrated a lack of good faith and its public statements included “inflammatory” and “offensive” material, according to an affidavit from a lawyer representing WestJet.

In a letter Friday to a senior WestJet executive, the union’s national president, Bret Oestreich, said the airline “engaged in similar illegal conduct” by ending further negotiations.

Just over a year ago, the airline found itself in a similar situation after some 1,800 pilots threatened to walk out of their jobs.

WestJet avoided a strike after reaching a last-minute deal in the wee hours before a May long weekend, but not before cancelling more than 230 flights and disrupting the travel plans of thousands of passengers.

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