WestJet said 235 flights have been cancelled Saturday as it waits to see what the next steps are in its ongoing labour dispute with its mechanics.
CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech and president Diederik Pen gave an update Saturday morning, where they expressed exasperation with the actions of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), which went on strike action Friday night after agreeing to binding arbitration.
The move was unexpected because on Thursday, federal labour minister Seamus O’Regan announced that he was ordering both parties to submit to binding arbitration in order to find a settlement and avoid Canada Day weekend chaos for thousands of travellers.
“The (labour) minister has called CIRB (Canadian Industrial Relations Board) to mandate binding arbitration,” said von Honsbroech. “That means negotiations have ended.
“There is no bargaining table (at the moment),” he said. “This makes a strike totally absurd.”
Saturday morning, on social media, O’Regan issued a statement expressing frustration with the unexpected developments.
“The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has issued an order referring the WestJet-AMFA dispute to binding arbitration for a first collective agreement under Section 80 of the Canada Labour Code.
“I am reviewing the Board’s decision, which is clearly inconsistent with my direction to the Board,” he posted. “I will be looking at additional steps to protect the interests of the employer, the union and all Canadians travelling over this national holiday weekend.”
A CIRB document given to CTV News confirmed the board “finds that the ministerial referral does not have the effect of suspending the right to strike or lockout.”
‘Exercising our right to strike’
The federal government had previously ordered binding arbitration but Friday evening, the AMEs’ union rep Ian Evershed told CTV News, “That doesn’t deter us or prevent us from exercising our right to strike at this time.”
Evershed said, “In the minister’s letter, there’s no indication as to direction on the topic of strike or lockout.”
‘Waiting for clarification from minister’
Von Hoensbroech said the airline was waiting to hear from the labour minister for next steps to take in the process.
Pen said travelers whose flights were disrupted were being compensated with an overnight hotel stay.
If no solution is reached by early Saturday afternoon, he added, an additional 150 flights would be cancelled.
Seeking government intervention
Earlier this month, the mechanics voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative deal with the Calgary-based airline, prompting WestJet to seek government intervention.
Gabor Lukacs, president of advocacy group Air Passenger Rights, said as things currently stand the union is participating in a legal strike.
“I believe that the blame here lies at the feet of management and not the union,” Lukacs said in a phone interview with The Canadian Press. “From a business management perspective they (WestJet) have not been handling the situation well and they need to face the music.”
The airline has said the flight cancellations could affect as many as 20,000 passengers and Lukacs said people need to know their rights.
He said WestJet has an obligation under the law to find stranded passengers alternate travel arrangements within 48 hours, either through another of its flights or with a competitor.
People can also ask for a refund, although Lukacs said he recommends against doing so.
“I would urge passengers not to take a refund unless they are absolutely sure they don’t want to travel,” he said. “If you take a refund then WestJet can wash its hands of its obligations to you.”
This isn’t the first time labour unrest at WestJet has affected holiday weekend travel plans. The airline averted a strike last year in the early hours of the May long weekend, but before cancelling over 230 flights and forcing thousands of people to have their travel plans changed.
“We are working on resolving this as quickly as possible,” Pen said.
With files from The Canadian Press and Damien Wood