WestJet strike averted as Ottawa imposes arbitration on airline, mechanics - Yahoo Canada Finance

A possible long-weekend strike at WestJet has been averted.

The federal government on Thursday directed the airline and plane mechanics into binding arbitration, steering clear of a work stoppage that threatened to disrupt flights for hundreds of thousands of travellers over the Canada Day long weekend.

In a late-afternoon social media post, Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan said he was invoking his authority under the Canada Labour Code to end the impasse between the two sides as the clock ticked down toward a Friday evening deadline.

"Strong first agreements set unions and employers on the path of collective bargaining," O'Regan said in a statement.

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"They set a strong foundation to build upon at the bargaining table and bring the parties one step closer to a strong second agreement and an even stronger third agreement — reached at the bargaining table. That’s what we want to see here."

WestJet and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association both said they will abide by the order, with strikes and lockouts off the table.

“With the government’s actions, the summer travel plans of Canadians have been protected and we have a path to resolution,” said WestJet Airlines president Diederik Pen. No more flight cancellations are planned, after more than a dozen on Thursday.

The union, which had opposed arbitration by the country's labour tribunal, took a less upbeat tone.

"There is no modern precedent for the minister’s action," the association's negotiating committee said in a statement. But it added that it will tell its approximately 680 workers "to refrain from any unlawful job action."

Union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative deal earlier this month and fought WestJet's request for intervention by the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

In response to that request, the mechanics association served the company with an initial 72-hour strike notice on June 17, prompting WestJet to cancel nearly 50 flights last week before both sides agreed to resume negotiations.

The second strike notice came Tuesday amid tense negotiations over the collective agreement — the first between WestJet and the union.

The Calgary-based carrier had already begun to cancel flights this week, calling off roughly 25 trips on Thursday and Friday in anticipation of possible job action as early as 5:30 p.m. MDT on Friday. Affecting some 3,300 customers, WestJet's decision to start concentrating its 180-plane fleet sought to avoid leaving aircraft in far-flung locations and stranding passengers and crew in the event of a work stoppage.

As negotiations around the contract dragged on in a windowless conference room at a hotel near Toronto's Pearson airport, the tone of statements put out by the two sides grew chippier.

On Wednesday, the airline asked the tribunal to quash the latest strike notice and bar future ones — except on approval from the labour board. The affidavit from lawyer Simon Mortimer argued that the union was "moving backward" in the talks, pointing to one counter-offer from workers that called for "a 50 per cent cost increase" over the tentative agreement.

The union's bargaining demands showed a failure to act in good faith and its public statements included "inflammatory" and "offensive" elements, the document claimed.

The union — the majority of its WestJet members are aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) who inspect each active plane daily — claimed the carrier was resorting to "false accusations" and "brinksmanship."

In a statement, the mechanics' negotiating committee retorted: "WestJet alleges that an AME strike would place the 'company and the travelling public in peril at a critical time.' It is difficult to conceive of a more inflammatory or offensive comment."

Ian Evershed, a union representative involved in the talks, cited "some pretty intense moments" during the negotiations.

“We just aren’t seeing any progress," he said in phone interview Wednesday.

Just over a year ago, the airline found itself in a similar situation after some 1,800 pilots threatened to walk off the job. WestJet averted a strike after reaching a last-minute deal in the wee hours ahead of a long weekend in May, but not before cancelling more than 230 flights and disrupting the travel plans of thousands of passengers.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board could opt not to suspend the right to a work stoppage as it hammers out a contract, but precedent and statements from the two parties suggests that outcome is a non-starter.

Both sides are slated to meet with the tribunal on Friday. "The board will then determine next steps or make the necessary rulings, as appropriate," tribunal spokesman Jean-Daniel Tardif said in an email.

The mechanics are hoping for a raise well beyond WestJet's initial offer of a roughly 10 per cent pay hike — it put forward a bigger one this week — in the first year of a five-and-a-half-year contract, Evershed said. He also pointed to counterparts in the United States who he said earn more than 1.5 times the current compensation level.

WestJet said it has offered a 12.5 per cent wage hike in the first year of the contract, and a compounded wage increase of 23 per cent over the rest of the term.

It also said the deal would protect work-life balance, ensure job security and attract more workers to the technical operations team.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2024.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

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2024-06-28 01:40:00Z
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WestJet strike likely averted as Ottawa imposes arbitration on airline, mechanics - CP24

A possible long-weekend strike at WestJet has been averted.

The federal government on Thursday directed the airline and plane mechanics into binding arbitration to resolve their dispute, a move all but certain to avoid a work stoppage that could otherwise have disrupted flights for hundreds of thousands of travellers over the Canada Day long weekend.

In a late-afternoon social media post, Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan said he was invoking his authority under the Canada Labour Code to resolve the impasse between the two sides as the clock ticked down toward a Friday evening deadline.

"Strong first agreements set unions and employers on the path of collective bargaining," O'Regan said in a statement.

"They set a strong foundation to build upon at the bargaining table and bring the parties one step closer to a strong second agreement and an even stronger third agreement — reached at the bargaining table. That’s what we want to see here."

The Canada Industrial Relations Board could opt not to suspend the right to a work stoppage as it hammers out a contract, but precedent suggests that outcome is unlikely.

The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association first served the carrier with a 72-hour strike notice on June 17, prompting WestJet to cancel nearly 50 flights last week before both sides agreed to resume negotiations. The second strike notice came Tuesday amid tense negotiations over a first collective agreement between WestJet and some 680 maintenance engineers.

Union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative deal earlier this month and opposed WestJet's request for intervention by the country's labour tribunal — a submission that triggered the union's initial strike threat.

Just over a year ago, the airline found itself in a similar situation after some 1,800 pilots threatened to walk off the job. WestJet averted a strike after reaching a last-minute deal in the wee hours ahead of a long weekend in May, but not before cancelling more than 230 flights and disrupting the travel plans of thousands of passengers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2024

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2024-06-27 21:52:14Z
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Bell Media announces additional job cuts impacting 43 technicians - CBC News

Bell Media has cut an additional 43 technician jobs as part of the restructuring it announced in February, the company confirmed to CBC News on Thursday.

The announcement comes after the company said it would move its local broadcaster CP24 from its Queen Street headquarters to its Scarborough, Ont., campus this fall, with business news organization BNN Bloomberg to follow in 2025.

"No departures will occur until the period between August 30 and September 27. We will be providing training, offering voluntary severance packages and eliminating vacant positions wherever possible to mitigate the impact on our team members," a spokesperson for Bell Media told CBC News.

"Bell has and will continue to comply with all of its obligations under the respective collective agreements, and to comply with all applicable federal laws."

In a statement released Thursday, Unifor said it was "concerned and outraged" that Bell Media was making another restructuring announcement that could impact 49 "unionized positions" after a round of layoffs earlier this year that saw Bell's parent company, BCE, cut 4,800 jobs and sell off 45 of its 103 regional radio stations.

"This is a corporation that has made billions of profits at the end of last year, and they continue to carry on with their profit-over-people principle," Unifor national president Lana Payne said in the statement.

"This is yet another blow to journalism and democracy and a step towards bigger swaths of news deserts across Canada."

Unifor said the cuts affect several areas of production, including electronic news gathering (ENG) editors and supervisors, media service co-ordinators, media service technicians, graphics artists, post-sound and audio-visual technicians and engineering technicians.

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What would you sacrifice to pay rent? - CBC.ca

Living with your parents. Living with your ex. Giving up basic needs like food and clothing.

These are just some of the sacrifices Canadians say they've been making to pay rent amid the surging prices and decreased availability marking Canada's rental housing crisis.

Demand for rentals is outpacing supply across the country. A recent CBC News analysis of more than 1,000 neighbourhoods across Canada's largest cities found that less than one per cent of rentals are both vacant and affordable for the majority of Canadian renters.

Meanwhile, over half of Canadian renters are spending more than the recommended 30 per cent of their income on rent, according to a recent survey. 

"I think it's sickening," Karen Charmbury, a single mom living in Kingston, Ont., told CBC News.

Charmbury, 47, has to make sacrifices because 100 per cent of her income goes to her rent.

She had to sell her house after her divorce and now pays $2,679 per month for a three-bedroom townhouse in the same neighbourhood. She didn't want her children, a teen boy and teen girl, to have to switch schools or share a bedroom.

Karen Charmbury, 47, of Kingston, Ont., says 100 per cent of her income goes to her rent, a situation she says is 'sickening.' (Karen Charmbury)

So, she's been cashing in her investments. Child support helps with the bills, her mother helps her with groceries and her friends give her their old clothes. She says she barely sleeps from the stress.

Charmbury, who works full time in admin, is also looking for a night job because one income is unsustainable.

"It's very scary," Charmbury said of her financial situation. "But you'd do anything for your kids."

WATCH | The challenges of renting as a single mom: 

Single moms say landlords won't rent to them

3 months ago

Duration 2:07

Some single mothers are finding their children are used against them as they compete for apartments in a tight rental market. One lawyer says she sees this often in her work even though it's illegal, but it's also hard to prove. Nicola Seguin reports.

In Abbotsford, B.C., Nathaniel Pelkman, 37, says he and his ex-wife lived together for nearly two years after their divorce because they couldn't afford to live separately. Even then, they were evicted last year so their landlord could move back in.

"While both my ex-wife and I managed to land on our feet, and in separate residences this time, it was not easy to deal with the lack of stability," Pelkman told CBC News.

 "The future certainly looks bleak for renters, even for those whose lives and careers can seem relatively stable."

'I don't know what to do'

To calculate the extent of Canada's rental crisis, CBC News combined 2021 census data with the most recent findings from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's rental market survey, conducted in October 2023.

CBC calculated affordability based on rental costs and utilities staying below 30 per cent of household gross income, the generally agreed-upon "rule," using a $64,108 median income for families who rent. That works out to spending about $1,600 per month on rent and utilities .

For singles, it's worse, where the median individual income is $45,069, which means what's considered affordable works out to about $1,125 per month on rent and utilities.

Stephen Fasugba, who lives in Toronto, says he is paying $2,450 after his old landlord sold his previous condo and he had to find something else quickly. Now, as his new landlord keeps raising the rent, Fasugba, 67, a taxi driver, earns far less than his expenses.

"I can't even make half of it at the end of the month," Fasugba told CBC News. "I only have a deficit."

To try to cut costs, he says he eats just one meal a day. He quit the gym, reluctantly, because he has a pacemaker and tries to stay active. Still, he's two months behind on rent and says he's out of options.

"I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do," he repeated tearfully to CBC News. "I'm helpless."

Stephen Fasugba, 67, lives in Toronto. He says he eats just one meal a day to try to pay his rent, but still comes up short each month. (Stephen Fasugba)

Most Canadians spend more than recommended on rent: survey

"I think a lot of people are feeling pretty disenfranchised because there's a lot of people who are paying a lot more in rent than that guideline of 30 per cent of income suggests. And it's depressing," Preet Banerjee, a Canadian personal finance expert and author, recently told CBC's The Current.

LISTEN | Preet Banerjee on The Current: 

The Current19:35Are you paying too much in rent? Find out here

Banerjee says that realistically, most renters are actually paying more like 63 per cent of their gross income on rent, especially in big cities like Toronto and Vancouver. Many would argue the 30 per cent number, which comes from a U.S. guideline that was last updated in 1981,  is "in no way realistic of what the average household would expect, and certainly not realistic for today's day and age," Banerjee said.

"So, I would say in today's day and age, if you want to have the ability to live your life as well, you want to keep it under 50 per cent. But even that's tough," he said.

A new report from Royal LePage showed that the majority of Canadian renters in their survey do in fact use more than 30 per cent of their net income for rent. More than half, 56 per cent, of the 1,506 Canadian renters they surveyed said more than 30 per cent of their net income was used to pay rent.

Of that, 16 per cent of Canadian renters said more than half their income went went to rent.

The proportion of those whose rent cost 50 per cent or more of their net income was highest in B.C. (25 per cent) and Atlantic Canada (24 per cent). In Ontario, 18 per cent of the renters polled said their rent costs were more than half of their income. It was 17 per cent in Alberta.

To get their numbers, Royal LePage surveyed 1,506 Canadian renters online between June 7 and June 10. A probability sample of 1,506 respondents would have a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent, 19 times out of 20.

'Making lemonade out of lemons'

Kaleigh MacKay, 39, says she's given up entirely on paying rent in Vancouver, where she currently lives with her mother. She works 32 hours per week as a client-service representative, and says a one-bedroom apartment would cost 100 per cent of her income.

She's hoping to transition to full-time, but says even then she's looking at spending upwards of 70 per cent of her income on rent. 

"I don't want much. Just a simple place where I can live on my own," MacKay told CBC News.

Kaleigh MacKay, 39, lives in Vancouver, but is planning to move to Europe so she can afford her own place to live. (Kaleigh MacKay)

So she's decided it would be less expensive to reinstate her Lithuanian citizenship and passport and move to Europe, where she can afford studio apartments, even with the exchange rate to Euros.

"I feel like I have no future here," MacKay said.

On the other side of the country, Alex MacDonald is also living with her mother. 

MacDonald, 32, of Halifax, is a full-time admin in health care, which she describes as "a good government job with benefits and a pension." Her mother is a high-ranking civil servant.

But neither of them can afford to live alone, not when the average rent in Halifax is $2,210 per month, according to rentals.ca.

The prices are "incredibly shocking," MacDonald said. 

When her parents separated, MacDonald's mother had to take out a second mortgage and would have needed to rent out a room to to help with the cost. Instead, MacDonald has lived with her for the past five years.

"It works out well but it was definitely borne out of economic necessity, and why it's gone on so long," she said.

"I'm making lemonade out of the lemons."

Low rise apartment buildings in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood are pictured. Most renters are actually paying approximately 63 per cent of their gross income on rent, especially in big cities like Toronto and Vancouver, according to a Canadian personal finance expert. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

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WestJet cancels flights ahead of possible work stoppage Friday - CBC.ca

WestJet has cancelled 25 flights scheduled for Thursday and Friday as the airline prepares for the possibility of a strike by its mechanics.

The airline says the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) has issued a strike notice that could mean a work stoppage as early as 5:30 p.m. MT on Friday.

In a news release Wednesday night, WestJet says 3,300 passengers will be affected by the cancellations. The airline directs passengers to this website for updates on flight status.

This marks the second time in the past week the airline has cancelled flights because of a strike threat by the mechanics. Dozens of flights were cancelled last week before contract talks resumed.

"This action ensures the airline can safely park its aircraft in a controlled manner, while enabling proactive communication and preventing the stranding of WestJet's guests and crew," the release said.

Diederik Pen, WestJet's president and chief operating officer, said the timing of the work stoppage — coming at the beginning of the Canada Day long weekend — is particularly difficult for passengers.

"As we are forced to make this painful decision, every one of us at WestJet feels the immense weight of the impact this will have on each of our guests and the communities we serve, counting on us to fulfil their travel plans this weekend," said Pen.

In it's most recent news release about the negotiations with the airline, AMFA said its 72-hour strike notice was submitted to prompt the airline to offer the mechanics a better deal. Instead, the union said, one hour later WestJet issued a 72-hour lockout notice in response.

"Strike or no strike, AMFA will always be available for negotiations. We have agreed to extend negotiations in Toronto through the end of this week and resume in Calgary next week if necessary," the AMFA negotiating committee said.

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2024-06-27 03:42:00Z
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WestJet to start cancelling flights Thursday as mechanics' strike looms - Financial Post

Article content

WestJet Airlines Ltd., Canada’s second-largest carrier, will begin cancelling flights on Thursday — just ahead of a long holiday weekend — as it prepares for a strike.

Alexis von Hoensbroech, WestJet’s chief executive, said on Wednesday that the union is trying to create “maximum damage” by choosing this timing for a work stoppage. The company, controlled by private equity firm Onex Corp., is expecting more than 250,000 passengers during the weekend that includes Canada Day — a national holiday on July 1.

Article content

If a deal isn’t reached, more than 680 workers in the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association can walk off the job as soon as Friday evening.

“We will keep a base network flying, but it will be substantially reduced compared to what we had originally planned,” von Hoensbroech said.

The union threatened strikes earlier this month and in May, but called them off after reaching tentative agreements with WestJet. However, union members rejected those deals. The union said Wednesday that the company has been refusing to engage in meaningful negotiations.

The airline’s CEO doesn’t expect another deal to be reached before the strike deadline.

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   WestJet and unionized mechanics agree to resume talks

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   Westjet begins cancelling flights after mechanics’ strike notice

“Right now I don’t see what a resolution could look like unless the union becomes reasonable,” von Hoensbroech said.

Bloomberg.com

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2024-06-26 21:55:02Z
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WestJet mechanics issue strike notice for possible job action Friday - CBC.ca

WestJet says it faces a possible strike by its mechanics starting as early as Friday.

The airline says the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association has issued a strike notice that could mean a work stoppage as early as 5:30 p.m. MT on Friday.

The notice comes after the union called off its strike plans last week and returned to the negotiating table.

But Ian Evershed, a spokesperson for the union, said the airline wasn't being productive at the bargaining table.

"So we feel that our only recourse is to again put  everyone under the pressure of the strike notice and continue bargaining as such," he said.

WestJet says it will start taking action in the coming days to manage the impacts of the possible job action.

The airline cancelled dozens of flights last week before contract talks resumed.

WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said the airline is offering an industry-leading, 22 per cent wage increase over four years, and that he believes the union is making unreasonable demands.

"All other unions would immediately shake hands over a deal like this," von Hoensbroech said. 

He said flight cancellations could begin as soon as Thursday.

"So we can't just stop flying at a certain point in time. So we need to orderly wind down," he said.

"And I think it was seen last week that this will require some cancellations ahead of it. So if there's no resolution inside, which I don't see right now, then first cancellations can be expected for tomorrow."

Union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative deal earlier this month and have voiced opposition to WestJet's request for arbitration.

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