Canadian minister to meet with WestJet Airlines and striking mechanics

(Repeated with new comment from Minister of Labour, comments from WestJet CEO and President, updated figures on flight cancellations and affected customers, union comment)

By Allison Lampert

June 29 (Reuters) –

Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan is to meet with WestJet Airlines and the union representing their striking mechanics, after the carrier canceled 235 flights, affecting 33,000 passengers on Saturday.

Seeking to preemptively avert a strike by the roughly 680 members of the WestJet Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association union, O’Regan had asked the board to resolve the contract dispute through binding arbitration.

While the board ordered Friday that the contract be finalized through arbitration, it added that O’Regan’s dismissal “does not operate to suspend the right to strike or lockout.”

O’Regan told social media site X that he respected the authority of the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which is independent of government, after reviewing the body’s decision earlier in the day.

Unions across North America have taken advantage of the tight labor market to win major contracts at the bargaining table, with mainline pilots, autoworkers and others getting big raises in 2023.

WestJet said the carrier expects to carry more than 250,000 passengers over the four days of the July 1 long weekend in Canada.

Canada’s second-largest carrier maintains minimal service by operating about 30 to 50 planes, or about 150 flights per day, WestJet President Diederik Pen told reporters Saturday.

WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said AMFA refused to negotiate and called the strike “a very disruptive thing, essentially led by a rogue American union trying to gain a foothold in Canada.”

“Their sole purpose was to disrupt as many Canadian travellers as possible.”

On social media, WestJet travelers complained about being stranded or having their long-planned family vacations cancelled.

WestJet said it offered a 12.5 per cent wage increase in the first year of the deal, plus a 23 per cent compound wage increase over the life of the deal.

Ian Evershed, an airline representative to AMFA, said von Hoensbroech’s comments were disappointing and argued it was WestJet that was refusing to negotiate.

Evershed said WestJet repeatedly delayed returning to the bargaining table after the union presented its latest offer Wednesday evening. Instead, the minister referred the union to binding arbitration.

“We were abandoned by the company at the negotiating table,” Evershed said. “Obviously, we don’t think this is the best solution for us. We prefer to continue negotiating.”

Evershed said the mechanics are striking because it puts them in a position to try to force the company to negotiate. He thanked O’Regan for “maintaining integrity” in a decision that supports the workers’ right to strike.

The union sent strike notices to WestJet after 97% of its members voted to reject a tentative pay deal reached in May.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Diane Craft)