Arbitration doesn’t typically spur a strike. If anything, the reverse occurs.
But on Thursday, a directive for binding arbitration from Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan was met with job action by WestJet plane mechanics just one day after it was issued, catching the airline and the government off guard and marking a turbulent start to one of the busiest travel weekends of the summer.
The work stoppage, which ended late Sunday night, raises questions about a dispute resolution process that pushed tensions to the breaking point and how consumers should respond to the threat of an airline strike.
Given the minister’s broad authority “to secure industrial peace” under the Canada
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