The clock is ticking down to early Saturday morning and a deadline that could see about 10,000 attendants at Air Canada walk off the job and cancel more than 1,500 daily flights. Air Canada said the two sides are at an impasse in labor talks.
When served with the 72-hour strike notice, Air Canada responded, saying it began an orderly slowdown, canceling some flights today, then more on Friday and finally a full shutdown on Saturday. Christophe Hennebelle speaks for Air Canada. He said the two sides are at an impasse.
“And we are to acknowledge that there’s a huge gap still between the union’s request and what we can afford,” Hennebelle said. “We offered an increase of more than 38 percent on global compensation, and that’s been turned down by the union, so time is running short.”
A statement from the airline’s CEO, Michael Rousseau, said Air Canada regrets the impact a disruption will have on customers, stakeholders and the communities they serve. The Canadian Union of Public Employees Airline Division has been negotiating with Air Canada since March. Some of the main sticking points in the talks include a wage increase and unpaid work for flight attendants when a plane is not in motion. That means boarding, deplaning and medical emergencies on the ground. Wesley Lesosky with CUPE, reacts to Air Canada’s latest proposal.
“Air Canada’s proposal is for safety-related duties that we’re required to do before a flight,” Lesosky said, “They said that they will look at a system that will pay 50% for that. So paying 50% for safety-related duties doesn’t quite cut it.’
Lesosky said the current offer isn’t enough to pull some members out of poverty. Air Canada said it tried to prevent travel disruptions by offering to enter third-party binding arbitration to settle the dispute, but the union said it won’t do that because it wants its members to vote on a deal. Until there is a strike, Lesosky said flight attendants will continue to their jobs.
“Our members are still going to work. Our members are still there, greeting customers. Still doing the unpaid portions at the beginning and still attempting to get people to their destination as long as the planes are flying,” Lesosky said.
Air Canada operates more than 1,600 flights a day, including more than 400 to U.S. destinations. Thousands of travelers will be affected by a strike. Martin Firestone is with Travel Secure, which specializes in trip cancellation coverage. He said what’s on the horizon will be a mess.
“Travelers have got a lot of concerns. Two kinds of travelers. The ones leaving they’re going to be in a situation where they cannot get to that cruise ship, they already paid all their money for and it’s non-refundable. They’re going to be out of money, a lot more than airfare,” Firestone said. “Then you’ve got the ones out of the country who can’t get back. They’re going to have additional nights in hotels, new airfare to get back home.”
Air Canada said it will advise customers that if their flights are canceled, they will be eligible for a full refund. It is also making arrangements for alternative flights with other airlines. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is calling on the union and the airline to resolve the dispute with no disruption to service. If that doesn't happen, it wants the Canadian government to immediately intervene. But so far, Ottawa has remained on the sidelines.
