Unifor Local 114 members initiate strike action at Cascade Aerospace. (CNW Group/Unifor)

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Strike at Abbotsford company

Unifor announces strike action at Abbotsford company

Jul 9, 2025 | 1:19 PM

ABBOTSFORD — Canada’s largest private sector union announced Wednesday that hundreds of highly-skilled aviation workers walked off the job at an aviation company in Abbotsford.

According to a statement from the union, Unifor Local 114 members previously voted 95 per cent in favour of strike action on June 2, 2025, and are on strike for wage improvements that would bring compensation at Cascade Aerospace in line with comparable jobs across the aerospace sector. They officially walked off the job at noon Pacific Time today.

“The jobs our members do are among the most advanced industrial jobs in the country,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director. “Cascade Aerospace must recognize how important our members are to their business and pay industry–standard wages. Supporting good aerospace jobs in Abbotsford helps support families, our community and strengthens the entire regional economy.”

Unifor represents workers at the Abbotsford facility including Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs), interior technicians, painters, stores and maintenance staff, planning clerks, sheet–metal mechanics, and others. Workers at the facility perform critical maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) work on a wide range of military and civilian aircraft. That includes heavy maintenance for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s C–130 Hercules fleet—aircraft that are essential to Canada’s defence, humanitarian, and disaster–response missions.

“Our members maintain the kind of aircraft Canada depends on in times of crisis—from wildfires to humanitarian missions,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “All they ask for is to be treated with respect and to be paid what they’re worth. It’s time for Cascade Aerospace to recognize the skill, dedication, and service our members provide is indispensable.”

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The strike action comes after what the union claims were “weeks of difficult negotiations” between the union and the company. Both parties negotiated until the deadline, however, Cascade Aerospace failed to table an offer to the union’s bargaining team that would satisfy the union’s request for compensation in line with industry standards and the realities of increased living costs.

“Our jobs are here in BC and our members regularly work under very tight maintenance check timelines. The high quality of work our members perform on these aircraft is what has created Cascade’s reputation in the aerospace industry and in becoming only one of two Lockheed Martin C130J authorized heavy maintenance centers in the world,” said Steve Frank, Unifor Local 114 Plant Chair at Cascade Aerospace. “Our demands are reasonable and straightforward: we want the same fair wages our colleagues make so we can continue to do our jobs with dignity and take pride in that the work we do is valued by this company.”

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 320,000 workers in every major area of the economy, including more than 10,000 workers in Canada’s aerospace industry. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.