Montreal: The union that represents more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants has sent a 72-hour strike notice, which could lead to a three-day work stoppage starting on Saturday. After months of talks that didn’t lead to a new contract, the two sides reached a “impasse.” The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the union, turned down an offer for binding arbitration.
Early on Wednesday morning, the strike notice was sent out after 99.7% of members voted in support of a strike mandate. CUPE said that even though they tried their best, Air Canada “refused to address our core issues.” These issues include what the union calls “poverty wages” for younger staff and the problem of unpaid work in the industry as a whole. Right now, flight attendants only get paid for “flight time,” which doesn’t include the time they spend on the ground doing things like boarding, safety checks, and deplaning. The union wants to get paid for all of the hours worked.
Air Canada stated in a statement that the union had “submitted a counteroffer seeking exorbitant increases” and that CUPE had turned down an offer to settle the issue through binding, third-party arbitration. Air Canada’s offer includes a 25% raise in overall pay in the first year and a 38% raise over four years. The airline said this would make its flight attendants the “best compensated in Canada.” CUPE, on the other hand, said that the airline’s offer on pay is just a 17.2% raise over four years, which it says is “below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage.”
The airline says the talks have reached an impasse. The talks have been going on for eight months since the last 10-year contract ended in March. Air Canada also said that it had sent a lockout notice to the union.
The possible strike may cancel around 700 mainline and Air Canada Rouge flights per day, affecting over 130,000 passengers every day, including those flying from Canada to the U.S. and from other countries. Air Canada Express flights, which are run by other airlines including Jazz and PAL Airlines, would not be affected.
Air Canada has told its customers to check the status of their flights and has made agreements with other airlines to offer other travel choices when possible. According to Canadian law, travelers cannot get money back for delays or cancellations caused by a labor dispute.