Porter flight dispatchers could strike in January as union backs job action – National

The union representing flight dispatchers at Porter Airlines says it will be in a legal position to strike on Jan. 20 if it doesn’t reach a contract deal, after members voted unanimously in favour of job action this week.

The Canadian Airline Dispatchers Association (CALDA) said Wednesday that 100 per cent of its 36 Porter members voted in favour of strike action, citing “a lack of respect” by the airline during bargaining.

The two sides have been negotiating what would be the flight dispatchers’ first collective agreement since joining CALDA over 14 months ago.

Negotiations are currently in the final stages of conciliation with the help of federal mediators, a process that CALDA’s incoming national president Mark Yezovich told Global News will end on Dec. 29.

Yezovich said in an email Friday that there will then be a 21-day cooling-off period that ends Jan. 19, 2026. If a tentative agreement still isn’t reached by then, he said the union will be “in a legal strike position” beginning at 12:01 a.m. eastern on Jan. 20.

“Porter continues to offer no meaningful improvements to our members’ work rules,” he said in a follow-up email. “Since announcing the results of the strike vote, we have not met with the company.”

Yezovich said one more meeting between the two sides with federal mediators is scheduled for Monday, but “no further negotiation sessions have been agreed upon” as of Friday.

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“We would like to reiterate that we remain fully committed to achieving a meaningful collective agreement at the bargaining table,” he said. “However, we urge Porter to engage in negotiations in a serious and constructive manner.”

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A spokesperson for Porter told Global News there is “no risk of an immediate labour disruption” as negotiations continue, adding the airline is “hopeful that an agreement can be reached.”

“We understand that reaching a first collective agreement takes significant effort by both parties,” the airline said in an emailed statement. “In this regard, Porter has made fair and meaningful proposals to CALDA during these negotiations on all key issues.

“The work of our dispatchers is extremely valued as part of the wider Porter team that provides a differentiated flying experience for customers.”

Porter added it will “continue ensuring safe operations at all times.”

CALDA alleges, however, that Porter is training a group of non-union personnel as potential replacements in the event of a flight dispatchers’ strike, a move the union warns is “unsafe, irresponsible, and disrespectful to both employees and the traveling public.”

Porter did not immediately respond to those allegations.

Dispatchers help develop and monitor flight plans for aircraft to reach their destinations.

CALDA also represents flight dispatchers for six other major Canadian airlines, including Air Canada and WestJet.

Toronto-based Porter has emerged as a leading alternative to those airlines in the post-pandemic era, growing its fleet and route map over the past couple of years.

That has coincided with steps by its workers to unionize: Porter pilots joined the Air Line Pilots Association in August and have begun talks toward their own first-ever contract, while flight attendants joined the Canadian Union of Public Employees the same month.

The possibility of strike action at Porter marks the latest labour dispute in Canada’s airline sector.

Air Transat narrowly avoided a pilots strike this week after the two sides reached a deal, and Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job for three days in August, only for union members to reject the wage portion of the tentative agreement. That dispute is currently at arbitration.

WestJet averted its own pilot strike in 2023 and a separate one for WestJet Encore pilots the following year. A brief strike by aircraft mechanics brought WestJet flights to a halt last summer.

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