CALGARY — WestJet has reached an agreement with its mechanics that ends a strike that disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers over the Canada Day long weekend.
The Alberta company and the union that represents its mechanics both confirmed that they had agreed to the terms of a tentative agreement late Sunday evening, after resuming negotiations earlier in the day.
“The harm caused to Canadians and our airline is enormous, and a swift resolution was necessary,” WestJet President Diederik Pen said in a statement released Sunday evening.
“We are not happy with this outcome, but we will sleep better tonight knowing that further harm has been avoided,” he added.
WestJet has warned that despite the arrival of this agreement in principle, there will still be flight disruptions over the next week, as its planes are returned to service. The company always advises its customers to check the status of their flight before going to the airport.
According to the union, this new agreement in principle brings “substantial improvements” compared to current employment conditions. The Airplane Mechanics Fraternal Association also prides itself on having made gains compared to the first agreement in principle reached in the negotiations, which was massively rejected by its members in mid-June.
“We believe this outcome would not have been possible without the strike, but we regret the disruption and inconvenience it caused to the public during the long Canada Day holiday,” the union said in a written statement.
“The timing (of the strike) was coincidental, as the negotiation process did not follow a predictable schedule. We are pleased that the strike only lasted 48 hours and that service can now return to normal.”
Some 680 workers, whose daily inspections and repairs are essential to the operation of the airlines, walked out on Friday evening despite a binding arbitration directive from the federal Minister of Labour.
In response, WestJet canceled 829 flights scheduled between Thursday and Monday. The Canada Day weekend is the busiest of the summer season, according to the carrier.
The vast majority of Sunday’s flights were canceled, as WestJet reduced its fleet from 180 planes to 32 active aircraft.
In its statement, the union did not reveal details of the tentative agreement, but noted that it includes immediate wage increases, the full reinstatement of the WestJet Savings Plan and enhanced benefits for workers.
The employees affected by this negotiation will be asked to vote on the agreement in principle soon.
Numerous impacts on travelers
The hundreds of canceled flights due to the strike complicated things for many Canadians who had planned to take advantage of the long weekend to travel.
Trevor Temple-Murray is one of thousands of customers who have had to scramble to change their bookings after their flight was cancelled less than a day before.
“There’s nothing else we can do except wait,” lamented the Lethbridge, Alta., resident who was waiting in the Victoria airport parking lot hoping to catch a flight to Calgary with his wife. and her two-year-old son.
Their scheduled 6:05 p.m. flight was canceled, and they were hoping to board a 7 a.m. plane the next morning.
“There’s a lot of angry people in there,” Temple-Murray said, pointing to the terminal.
Nearby, Marina Cebrian, a foreign student participating in an exchange program, was due to return to Spain early on Sunday, but three cancellations meant that she would not be reunited with her family until Tuesday.
“It’s painful,” she admitted.
Tumultuous negotiations
The agreement in principle reached on Sunday is the second to be reached in the context of these negotiations, which aim to establish a first collective agreement for WestJet maintenance engineers.
The first proposal was rejected by members in mid-June. Since then, both parties have accused each other of negotiating in bad faith.
As the strike loomed on Friday, the impasse prompted federal Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan to intervene, demanding that the airline and union undertake binding arbitration.
This process generally avoids a work stoppage. WestJet clearly thought so, but the mechanics took a different view.
The union negotiating committee said it would “comply with the minister’s order and ask its members to refrain from any illegal action.” Less than 24 hours later, workers were on the picket lines.
A decision by the Canada Industrial Relations Board appears to affirm the legality of their actions, regardless of the protocols surrounding the arbitration.
In any case, according to WestJet, there will be no further union action in this matter, since “both parties have agreed to arbitrate the contract in the event of failure of ratification,” said Mr. .
If the agreement in principle is ratified, the collective agreement will last five years.
“Collective bargaining is the responsibility of the parties. The government’s responsibility is to facilitate and arbitrate. The parties have finally done their job,” said Minister O’Regan on the social network X on the night of Sunday to Monday.
