At Toronto Pearson International Airport on Sunday, Nikita Joseph tried to calm her crying toddler. She rocked a stroller with one hand and checked her phone with her other for updates on her cancelled flight.<\/p>\n
The Windsor resident was supposed to fly to Antigua and Barbuda for vacation to meet her three other children, who travelled there with Ms. Joseph\u2019s sister last month. \u201cI don\u2019t even know how to tell my five-year-old that I\u2019m not coming today,\u201d Ms. Joseph said. \u201cShe has been anticipating my arrival, and I can\u2019t even tell her when I\u2019m coming.\u201d <\/p>\n
Around her, prospective travellers found themselves in similar situations \u2013 sitting on suitcases and frantically refreshing webpages on their phones in hopes of finding alternative flights to avoid the disruptions caused by the first day of WestJet\u2019s flight attendant strike. <\/p>\n
What to know about the WestJet strike and how it may affect you<\/a><\/p>\n At 2:01 a.m. EST on Sunday, the airline and Canadian Union of Public Employees 8125, the local that represents WestJet\u2019s 4,400 flight attendants, announced the labour action after the strike deadline passed. <\/p>\n A total of 600 flights had been cancelled as of midday Sunday as workers walked off the job, creating chaos and frustration at airports across the country. <\/p>\n Talks between the airline and the union broke down late Saturday over the issue of wages and ground pay, which is the amount flight attendants are paid for the work they perform before a plane departs and after it lands. CUPE says WestJet flight attendants work up to 35 hours a month for free because they do not earn ground pay.<\/p>\n After the strike notice, WestJet released the details of its latest contract proposal, which offered flight attendants a new \u201cduty pay premium\u201d (a salary increase of 12 per cent), designed to address the union\u2019s claim of unpaid work, as well as annual wage hikes. CUPE 8125 president Alia Hussain said in a news release that the airline\u2019s offer did not go far enough.<\/p>\n At a Sunday morning news conference, CUPE recording secretary Cameron Jones said talks had resumed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bargaining committee is trying to close that gap to get a deal that we believe is fair that we can bring back to the membership so we can go back to the work that we love,\u201d he said at the picket line outside Calgary International Airport.<\/p>\n Last summer, Air Canada flight attendants went on strike<\/a> over the same issue, resulting in hundreds of cancelled flights and days of delays. The flight attendants, also represented by CUPE, defied a back-to-work order issued by the government shortly after the strike began, and chose to strike unlawfully in order to compel Air Canada to come back to the bargaining table. The strike ended after three days, and a tentative agreement that includes four years of wage increases and partial ground pay provisions was later rejected by union members, but enforced by an arbitrator.<\/p>\n In a scene that evoked d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu, 200 union members walked picket lines outside Terminal 3 at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Sunday. Striking workers shouted demands for better wages through megaphones as rain poured. Passing drivers honked their horns in support while dropping off travellers.<\/p>\n WestJet flight attendants go on strike, grounding 600 flights on long weekend<\/a><\/p>\n Meshach Baba, 25, slept on the airport floor after he arrived from Taipei Saturday night and learned his flight to Orlando, Fla., had been cancelled because of the labour dispute. The cancellation was for the last leg of his flight home after he spent three weeks in the Philippines for a wedding, his first solo international trip. <\/p>\n \u201cThe trip was still pretty fun, but I\u2019m definitely going to be more cautious about who I\u2019m booking with,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n While WestJet rebooked his flight for Sunday afternoon, that trip was also cancelled because of the strike. His next flight, on Delta Air Lines, was scheduled for the next day. <\/p>\n Domestically, Canada\u2019s other major airlines are absorbing the surge in demand as travellers attempt to salvage their summer vacation plans. <\/p>\n In an e-mail, Porter Airlines confirmed that bookings have recently increased across its network. <\/p>\n \u201cWhile flights are already extremely busy, seats are available on many existing flights and we are assessing whether we can add more flights,\u201d Porter communications director Brad Cicero said. <\/p>\n Air Canada said most seats on its flights are sold out and it currently has minimal ability to increase capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cOur teams are making every effort to support WestJet passengers and provide available travel options. However, travellers need to be aware that we are in the peak summer period and the August long weekend, representing the busiest weekend of the year,\u201d the airline said in an e-mailed statement. <\/p>\n The strike, said John Gradek, a faculty lecturer in supply networks and aviation management at McGill University, reflects a broader reckoning with the relationship flight attendants have with their employer, sparked by significant layoffs at the beginning of the pandemic. <\/p>\n Currently, WestJet\u2019s \u201ccredit hour\u201d compensation system links cabin crew pay to the length of the flights they work, but is used to pay them for a full range of duties, not just time spent in the air, the company says on its website. The \u201ccredit hour\u201d combines flight times, ground duties, delays and other labour into a \u201csingle, higher rate of pay\u201d that is then credited across the workday, according to WestJet.<\/p>\n The pay rate ranges between $28.88 and $53.61 per credit hour. At 80 credit hours a month \u2013 considered full-time work \u2013 that adds up to between $27,700 and $51,500 a year. <\/p>\n While many airlines maintain this type of compensation structure, Delta Air Lines spearheaded reforms in 2022 when it became the first carrier in North America to pay flight attendants specifically for work done on the ground. American Airlines and Alaska Airlines followed suit with boarding pay of 50 per cent of regular rates.<\/p>\n Opinion: WestJet labour dispute is really a proxy battle between Carney and unions<\/a><\/p>\n Mr. Gradek said the \u201ccredit hour\u201d structure disproportionately benefits senior employees, while leaving junior ones struggling to make ends meet. <\/p>\n \u201cThe junior flight attendants who work three or four flights a day don\u2019t get any benefits in that at all. They\u2019re in trouble,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n On what the dispute will cost WestJet, a private company, Mr. Gradek made the \u201cconservative estimate\u201d that the airline will be out between $8-million to $10-million dollars each day of the strike, as it must absorb the costs of rebooking passengers on competitor flights at premium prices. Still, he noted the airline turned down<\/a> a loan offer from the federal government<\/a> of up to $150-million in June to offset surging fuel costs, suggesting its financial health is stable.<\/p>\n As for the potential of the federal government ordering WestJet cabin crew back to work by invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, Mr. Gradek said that provision has lost its utility. <\/p>\n \u201cThat horse has left the barn a long time ago,\u201d he said, referring to Air Canada flight attendants\u2019 decision to defy the Section 107 order from Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu last summer that directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to end the work stoppage and order binding arbitration between the airline and the union. <\/p>\n In a statement early Sunday, Ms. Hadju said she was disappointed that no deal could be reached to avoid a disruption at WestJet, but did not say whether the government planned to intervene.<\/p>\n Mr. Gradek suggested the trend of frequent airline labour disputes signals the need for industry to shift.<\/p>\n \u201cThey disrupt people\u2019s lives. They disrupt the economy, and it\u2019s time for us to come up and say, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s come up with a different way of doing business.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n With reports from Vanmala Subramaniam and The Canadian Press <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At Toronto Pearson International Airport on Sunday, Nikita Joseph tried to calm her crying toddler. 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