Talks between WestJet and the union representing the airline’s flight attendants are “progressing,” the federal transport minister said Wednesday as a strike deadline inches closer.
Close to 4,400 union members represented by CUPE Local 8125 could walk off the job as soon as Sunday, Aug. 2, unless both sides reach a negotiated agreement on a new contract.
“The parties are at the table. They are negotiating, I know, very intensely. My information is that those talks are progressing,” Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon told Global News after an unrelated announcement in Montreal.
“Obviously, I have to leave it to the parties to characterize those talks, but they are very, very well supported by the Federal Mediation Service and we’re hopeful that they reach a negotiated agreement.”
A WestJet spokesperson told Global News the airline “remains actively engaged in negotiations and is fully prepared to make meaningful improvements that work for cabin crew members while balancing the future sustainability of WestJet.”
“We are optimistic we can arrive at an agreement,” the airline added in an emailed statement.
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WestJet has given passengers with flights booked between July 30 and Aug. 4 the ability to make a one-time change or cancellation to their bookings with no fee.
Global News has reached out to CUPE Local 8125 for comment.
Separately Wednesday, the NDP urged Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu to commit to not intervening in a future strike by invoking Section 107 of the Labour Code.
Hajdu invoked that statute last summer to force striking Air Canada flight attendants back to work and order binding arbitration. The union ignored the order and a negotiated agreement was ultimately reached with the airline.
“This clear contempt for workers’ fundamental rights is unacceptable and must not be repeated,” NDP MPs Don Davies and Leah Gazan wrote in a letter to Hajdu.
The letter quotes CUPE 8125 President Alia Hussain in stating that government intervention in collective bargaining “risks altering the balance that is essential to meaningful negotiations.”
The NDP has introduced legislation to repeal Section 107 from the Labour Code.
—With files from Global’s Adriana Fallico
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