A sudden strike by WestJet’s mechanics union is forcing the airline to cancel more flights over the Canada Day long weekend, disrupting the plans of more than 49,000 travelers.
The Calgary-based airline has already canceled a total of 407 flights over the weekend in an effort to “maintain stability.”
Most flights were cancelled on Saturday, with 282 trips on WestJet planes. On Sunday, 68 flight cancellations were announced.
The travel disruptions come after members of the Airplane Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) walked out on Friday afternoon, saying the airline’s “unwillingness to negotiate with the union made the strike inevitable.”
The pressure tactic comes after union members rejected a deal with WestJet earlier this month and two weeks of tense negotiations between the two sides that resulted in the federal government stepping in. Binding arbitration was ordered Thursday to force WestJet and the union to resolve the dispute.
AMFA management published a letter from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board regarding its decision in which it affirms that the ministerial referral does not have the effect of suspending the right to strike or lockout.
WestJet officials say they are “extremely outraged by these actions” and will hold AMFA “fully responsible for the stress and unnecessary costs that this has caused.”
Federal Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan, who said the Canada Industrial Relations Board’s order was not consistent with the direction he had given, spoke again Saturday, asking both parties to work together with the Council to reach an agreement. “There is a lot at stake. Canadians need this situation to be resolved,” he wrote on the social network X in the evening.
