WestJet mechanics strike ends after tentative agreement

A strike by WestJet aircraft mechanics that disrupted hundreds of flights over the long weekend ended Sunday evening with the carrier and union reaching a tentative deal.

WestJet said in a statement that members of theAircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) will be immediately back to work after agreeing to end their walkout Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Mountain Time.

The damage to Canadians and our airline is significant and a rapid resolution was necessary.said WestJet President Diederik Pen. We’re not claiming victory just yet, but we’ll sleep better tonight knowing that further damage has been avoided.

The union confirmed the news, saying it had reached a contract covering the next five years. In the opinion of theAMFAthis second agreement in principle brings substantial improvements compared to the one that had been previously concluded but refused by the employees.

This corresponds to an immediate salary increase of 15.5% upon signing and increases of 2.5% to 3.25% over 5 years. The agreement also includes an improvement in social benefits and a full restoration of the company’s savings plan.

For former unionist Marc Ranger, This strike took everyone by surprisebecause the union maintained the strike even though arbitration had been requested by the minister.

In the short term, it’s a home run. [pour le syndicat des mécaniciens]but in labor relations, we must also look to the medium and long term, Mr. Ranger said in an interview on the show First the information on HERE RDIHe believes that consumers will remember their bad experience when they buy their next ticket.

Mr. Ranger believes that this “union coup” also had strategic aims on the union’s side.AMFA is an American union that has been established in Canada for barely a year and which, according to it, used this conflict to send a warning shot to the entire Canadian industry and say to other mechanics in the industry, “Look what we were able to achieve at WestJet.”.

Around 100,000 passengers affected

The union’s approximately 680 workers have been on strike since Friday evening, despite a binding arbitration order from Canadian Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.

This means that 130 planes were grounded at 13 airports across the country during the long Canada Day weekend, the busiest weekend of the season, according to the carrier.

More than 800 flights have been cancelled, disrupting the plans of some 100,000 travellers, WestJet said in an email to CBC Sunday.

For civil aviation specialist Mehran Ebrahimi, a return to normal will not be immediate for WestJet. In aviation, when there are a few flights cancelled, it has a domino effect on the following flights. It can take several days, or even weeks, to absorb the effect of a large-scale strike.he stressed.

It is a monumental operational and logistical headache.

According to airline tracking tool FlightAware, 223 WestJet flights scheduled for Monday, or nearly half, have still been cancelled.

In a message posted on X on Sunday night, Minister O’Regan said the airline and the union had finally did their jobstressing that the patience of Canadians had been put to the end.

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We believe this outcome would not have been possible without the strike, but we regret the disruption and inconvenience it caused to travellers during the Canada Day holiday.for his part supported theAMFA in a press release.

Meetings will be held to explain to workers the new agreement in principle as well as the legal and political path traveled to get there, the union said, without providing dates for the next steps for now. A majority of members will have to approve the text for it to become the new collective agreement.

With information from Pierre Chapdelaine de Montvalon

With information from The Canadian Press