Canada: Over 800 flights have been cancelled by WestJet in Canada as a result of mechanics going on strike, upsetting thousands of people’s travel schedules over the long weekend of Canada Day.
After the Calgary-based airline and the Aeroplane Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) were unable to come to an agreement on pay and working conditions, some 680 employees went on strike on Friday.
Diederik Pen, President and CEO of WestJet, expressed regret to travellers on Sunday for the “unnecessary work stoppage.”
Pen released a statement saying, “I am encouraged by our employees’ willingness to rise above the adversity and deliver a safe and controlled operation going forward. We continue to hold our view that the current strike serves no purpose other than to inflict maximum damage to our airline and the country.”
Since Thursday, 832 flights with more than half of them scheduled for Sunday have been cancelled by WesJet. As of Sunday, the airline stated, only 32 of its 180-plane fleet remained in operation. Both WestJet and the AMFA have charged the other with engaging in bad-faith negotiations.
According to the AMFA, WestJet would have to pay less than $8 million Canadian dollars ($5.8 million) for its desired wage rise in comparison to what the airline has already agreed to pay for the first year of the agreement.
According to WestJet, it gave a 12.5 percent pay boost in the first year of the agreement and a 23.5 percent compound increase over the remaining five and a half years.
Around 110,000 travellers had their plans thrown off as a result of the stoppage, which continued despite a directive issued on Thursday by Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan asking for binding arbitration to resolve the conflict.
A proposed compensation agreement struck with WestJet was rejected by 97.25 percent of union members in a June ballot.
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