Canada steps in to prevent WestJet engineers strike ahead of holiday weekend

FILE PHOTO: A WestJet Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner airplane taxis along a runway at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada April 28, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada's federal government intervened on Thursday to prevent a strike by maintenance engineers at WestJet Airlines, the country's second-largest carrier, to avoid more flight cancellations ahead of a busy holiday weekend.

Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan said he had ordered the country's industrial relations board to impose final binding arbitration in the dispute between the airline and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association.

"The parties still remain far apart today, and tensions have only increased," he said in a statement.

The union said there was no modern precedent for the move, adding it would comply with the order and direct its members to refrain from any unlawful job action.

The carrier also confirmed strikes have been avoided and no additional flights would be cancelled. The parties will resolve the outstanding terms of the agreement after entering a final binding arbitration, the airline said.

WestJet said on Wednesday it had begun canceling flights ahead of the strike, which could have started on Friday. Monday is Canada Day, one of the country's most important holidays.

WestJet, which is backed by Onex Corp and competes with Air Canada, has been facing demands from employees for better working conditions and higher salaries.

The 681 members of AMFA, which include aircraft maintenance engineers and other technical operation employees, initially served a strike notice on June 18 after 97% voted to reject a tentative agreement reached in May.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed and Krishna Chandra Eluri)