Flight cancellations grow as WestJet mechanics hit picket lines

Flight cancellations grow as WestJet mechanics hit picket lines

On one of Canada’s busiest long weekends, thousands of travellers find themselves stranded due to a mechanics’ strike at WestJet. The airline has cancelled at least 235 flights, affecting thousands of people. This turn of events comes as a surprise, as the Canadian federal government had imposed binding arbitration in an attempt to prevent the work stoppage. WestJet claims that the union walked away from a deal that would have made the maintenance engineers the highest paid in Canada. The government is now intervening, meeting with both sides to seek a resolution. Sean O’Shea has that story.