Canada minister to meet with WestJet Airlines, striking mechanics

(Recasts passim with caller remark from labour minister, comments from WestJet CEO and president, updated formation cancellation numbers and impacted guests, remark from union)

By Allison Lampert

June 29 (Reuters) -

Canadian Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan is acceptable to conscionable with WestJet Airlines and the national representing their striking mechanics, aft the bearer cancelled 235 flights, impacting 33,000 passengers connected Saturday.

Seeking to preemptively avert a onslaught by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association union's astir 680 WestJet members, O'Regan had asked the committee to resoluteness the declaration quality done binding arbitration.

While the committee connected Friday ordered the declaration to beryllium finalized done arbitration, it added that O'Regan's referral "does not person the effect of suspending the close to onslaught oregon lockout."

O'Regan said connected societal media tract X that helium respects the authorization of the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which is autarkic of the government, aft reviewing the body's determination earlier successful the day.

Unions successful North America person capitalized connected choky labour markets to triumph hefty contracts astatine the bargaining table, with mainline pilots, autoworkers and others scoring large raises successful 2023.

WestJet said the bearer was scheduled to alert much than 250,000 passengers implicit the 4 days crossed Canada's July 1 agelong weekend.

Canada's second-largest bearer is maintaining minimal work by operating astir 30-50 aircraft, oregon astir 150 flights a day, WestJet President Diederik Pen told reporters connected Saturday.

WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said AMFA was refusing to negociate and called the onslaught "a precise disruptive thing, fundamentally done by a rogue U.S. national that is trying to marque inroads successful Canada.

“Their lone intent was to disrupt arsenic galore Canadian travelers arsenic possible.”

On societal media, WestJet travelers complained astir being stranded oregon having long-planned household vacations cancelled.

WestJet said it has offered a 12.5% wage summation successful the archetypal twelvemonth of the agreement, and a compounded wage summation of 23% implicit the word of the agreement.

Ian Evershed, an hose typical with AMFA, said von Hoensbroech's comments were disappointing and argued that it was WestJet that was refusing to negotiate.

Evershed said WestJet repeatedly delayed returning to the array aft the national made its past connection connected Wednesday night. Instead the curate referred the national to binding arbitration.

"We person been abandoned by the institution astatine the negotiating table," Evershed said."Obviously we don't consciousness that's the champion result for us. We similar to proceed bargaining."

Evershed said the mechanics are striking due to the fact that it puts them successful a presumption to effort and unit the institution into negotiations. He thanked O'Regan for "maintaining integrity" successful a determination which upholds workers' close to strike.

The national served onslaught notices to WestJet aft 97% of its members voted to cull a tentative wage woody reached successful May.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert successful Montreal and Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Diane Craft)