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Flight attendants union issue 72-hour lockout and strike notices · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: Well, if your long weekend travel plans include a flight
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  Speaker 1: on West Jet, keep an eye on your inbox. The
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  Speaker 1: union representing the airline's flight attendants has issued a seventy
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  Speaker 1: two hour strike notice, meaning a clock is now ticking
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  Speaker 1: for Canada's second largest airline to make a deal with
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  Speaker 1: its workers. There is, of course, never good time for
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  Speaker 1: an airline to be affected by a strike, but the
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  Speaker 1: looming long weekend is particularly difficult because it means tens
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  Speaker 1: of thousands of passengers are now caught in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of these labor strikes. Darren mccaffee leads off our coverage
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  Speaker 1: this morning. So Darren, talk to us more about sort
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  Speaker 1: of what happened overnight with dueling strike and lockout notices.
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  Speaker 1: Take us through now what of course the airline and
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  Speaker 1: the union are.
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  Speaker 2: Saying, we'll give you notices. Of course of a strike
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  Speaker 2: doesn't necessarily mean that the strikes will definitely happen, but
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  Speaker 2: has to say it's going in the wrong direction, isn't it,
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  Speaker 2: And it means that strikes could happen if there isn't
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  Speaker 2: a deal as early as Sunday. And as you say,
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  Speaker 2: West Jets have now also essentially counterattacked if you like
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  Speaker 2: biationing this lockouts notice as well, and publicly things do
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  Speaker 2: seem to be going in the wrong direction, but negotiations
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  Speaker 2: are continuing. This could affect a lot of people because
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  Speaker 2: West Jets operate around six hundred flights per day, they
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  Speaker 2: carry around some seven hundred thousand passengers, and it really
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  Speaker 2: couldn't come at the worst time, given that we are
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  Speaker 2: in the peak of someone. Let's if look at what
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  Speaker 2: both sides though, are saying this morning. Let's start with
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  Speaker 2: the unions. With the Canadian Union of Public Employees, their
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  Speaker 2: president has said that they've been clear about what needs
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  Speaker 2: to change and we have worked hard to reach a
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  Speaker 2: fair deal. They say that there is still time to
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  Speaker 2: avoid a strike. We continue to bargain around the clock
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  Speaker 2: until this is resolved. And in addition to this, then
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  Speaker 2: we've also heard from the West Jett CEO effect is
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  Speaker 2: saying that they have issued at this lockout notice in
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  Speaker 2: response to actions taken by the union. It was not
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  Speaker 2: one they say they took lightly and they sincerely regret
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  Speaker 2: the inconvenience and the uncertainty this is likely to cause
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  Speaker 2: their guests. And they say that while they greatly value
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  Speaker 2: and work, the work and contributions of the cabin crew.
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  Speaker 2: It is their responsibility to ensure the integrity of their network.
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  Speaker 2: And they still say again that element of positivity that
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  Speaker 2: there is still time to avoid the strike, that they
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  Speaker 2: will continue to bargain around the clock until it is resolved.
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  Speaker 1: So as the deadline is looming, we've got that seventy
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  Speaker 1: two hour notice. Talk to us about the sticking points, then, well.
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  Speaker 2: The sticking point is fundamentally about pay, if you're going
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  Speaker 2: to be honest about this, and to a degree about
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  Speaker 2: working air conditions. Now, the union represents some four four
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  Speaker 2: hundred flight attendants. When they put this to a vote
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  Speaker 2: of members, at ninety nine percent of them voted in
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  Speaker 2: favor of strike action earlier this month, I say it
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  Speaker 2: is largely about what the union sees is unpaid work,
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  Speaker 2: and this is what represented the unions. Cameron Jones had
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  Speaker 2: to say about the reason for strike action a little
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  Speaker 2: earlier of the week.
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  Speaker 3: Definitely, there's kind of two key issues that are going
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  Speaker 3: on relating to compensation directly, one being obviously the unpaid
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  Speaker 3: work that we've identified, but then also at we WestJet
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  Speaker 3: flight attendants, being the second largest carrier in Canada, are
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  Speaker 3: amongst the lowest paid within the industry, and even WestJet
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  Speaker 3: themselves identified that some members were as effectively making less
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  Speaker 3: than federal minimum wage. As I say, West.
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  Speaker 2: Jets say they are continuing to engage with these negotiations
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  Speaker 2: and that they are willing and hoped to strike a deal.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so passengers, now West Jet customers, what do they
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  Speaker 1: need to keep in mind?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the advice fundamentally this morning is the sit tight.
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  Speaker 2: Actually and see how this plays out. I know it's
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  Speaker 2: not ideal. There's a lot uncertainty around, particularly if your
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  Speaker 2: flight is going to be in the coming days of
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  Speaker 2: the coming months. Fundamentally, the advice is to sit tight
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  Speaker 2: because it's best. If West Jets unfortunately they cancel your flight,
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  Speaker 2: it does mean they have to either provide alternative transportation
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  Speaker 2: or if you book a different airline and a different
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  Speaker 2: ticket than they then have to pay for that.
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  Speaker 3: Now at the moment, West.
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  Speaker 2: Jet are also allowing passengers flying between today and August
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  Speaker 2: fourth to make a one time change or to cancel
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  Speaker 2: it without a fee. But as I say, given the uncertainty,
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  Speaker 2: if you are willing to ride that uncertainty, as I say,
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  Speaker 2: the advice is to set tight. There is also the
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  Speaker 2: possibility that the federal government might get involved in all
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  Speaker 2: of this, and we heard a little yesterday from the
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  Speaker 2: Ministry for Transportation almost dancing around this question about whether
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  Speaker 2: they would have involved in this strike action.
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  Speaker 4: Parties are at the table, they're negotiating, I know very intensively.
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  Speaker 4: My information is that those talks are progressing. Obviously, I
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  Speaker 4: leave it to the parties to characterize those talks, but
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  Speaker 4: they are very very well supported by the Federal Mediation Service,
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  Speaker 4: and we're hopeful that they reach a negotiating an agreement.
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  Speaker 2: What this deadline does provide, though, is a sense that
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  Speaker 2: is may not those heads together, that negotiations really do
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  Speaker 2: need to intensify. But it does create lots of uncertainty
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  Speaker 2: for those one hundreds of thousands of passengers who are
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  Speaker 2: going to fly potentially over the next couple of days
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  Speaker 2: into next week.
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  Speaker 1: Indeed, Okay, we'll keep a close signing it. Darren, thank
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  Speaker 1: you so much for this
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  Speaker 2: FOO