As of 12:58 am Eastern this morning (Aug. 16), Air Canada flight attendants are on strike. CUPE, the union that represents the airline’s 10,000 flight attendants, served a 72-hour notice of its intent to strike earlier this week, prompting Air Canada to issue a lockout notice in a bid to manage the shutdown in an orderly way, cancelling flights gradually over the last three days. Approximately 130,000 customers will be impacted each day that the strike continues as Air Canada suspends its roughly 700 flights a day.
Related: Air Canada Issues Lockout Notice, Begins to Cancel Flights
The two sides have had a contentious week, starting when negotiation talks, following an overwhelming vote by flight attendants supporting strike action, broke down. At issue are unpaid mandatory work hours and what the union has referred to as “poverty wages.”
“Air Canada has been negotiating with CUPE for eight months and although we have settled many items, none of which required concessions, we remain far apart on key issues,” said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, executive vice president, chief human resources officer and public affairs early this week.
Related: Air Canada Flight Attendant Strike Looms as Talks with CUPE Collapse
The airline has issued statements refuting reports in social media of flight attendants being paid what amounts to less than minimum wage. Air Canada has asked for binding arbitration from the federal government in order to bring the strike to an end. CUPE has refused to submit to a decision without allowing members to vote on it, something that would not be possible under binding arbitration.
“Air Canada wants to force flight attendants to continue working for free, and reinforce the gender wage gap for our female-dominated workforce, and they want the federal government to help them do it.” said Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada Component of CUPE. “It’s clear where Canadians stand. Minister Hajdu must stand on the side of workers’ rights and fairness, and reject Air Canada’s request to trample our Charter rights to bargain an end to unpaid work.”
Lesosky refers to a poll conducted from Aug. 14-15 of Canadians’ support for the strike. The survey, published by CUPE, indicates strong support for the flight attendants. The results show 88 percent of Canadians “believe flight attendants should be paid for all work-related duties including boarding, delays, and safety checks,” and that 59 percent “believe the federal government should respect flight attendants’ right to take job action, even if it causes travel disruptions.
Air Canada states it “deeply regrets the effect the strike is having on customers,” and urges customers not to go to airports. “Air Canada is strongly advising affected customers not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed ticket on an airline other than Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge. Air Canada will notify customers with imminent travel of additional cancelled flights and their options. For those customers due to travel soon whose flights are not yet cancelled, Air Canada has put in place a goodwill policy to allow them to rebook their travel or obtain a credit for future travel. For more information customers should visit aircanada.com/action.”
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