Air Canada has reached an agreement with the union representing 10,000 flight attendants to end a strike. The union first announced the agreement early Tuesday after talks resumed late Monday.
The strike, which began over the weekend, affected about 130,000 travelers daily during the peak summer travel season. Flights will start resuming Tuesday evening, but full restoration may take a week or more.
The agreement guarantees pay for work performed while planes are on the ground, resolving a major issue. Air Canada operates around 700 flights daily and estimated that 500,000 customers were affected by cancellations.
The union insisted that the strike was necessary because of low wages and no pay for unpaid work hours, the latter apparently solved with Tuesday's tentative deal.
“Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power,” the union said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. “When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back — and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”
Flight attendants previously defied a return-to-work order issued by the Canadian government over the weekend.
Dan Karpenchuk contributed to this report
