Strike averted as WestJet reaches tentative agreement with Calgary and Vancouver employee union

There will be no strike at WestJet this week now thatthe airline has reached a tentative labour deal with the union representing hundreds of workers at the Calgary and Vancouverairports.

Both the airline and Unifor Local 531 announced the deal onSunday evening, days before nearly 800 baggage and customer servicestaff could have walked off the job.

Unifor announced last week that workers had voted 98 per cent infavour of a strike as early as this Wednesday if a deal could not bereached.

Neither side disclosed specific terms of the tentative deal,which is still subject to ratification.

The union issued a release saying the agreement "brings longoverdue wage increases and improvements to working conditions."

The deal, touted as the first between the two sides, will bepresented to union members later this week.