Air Canada is preparing for an imminent shutdown of most operations, citing what the company describes as an “impasse” in negotiations with the labour union representing its flight attendant workforce.
The Montreal-based carrier says that contract talks with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have broken down after a protracted nine-month negotiation, leading Air Canada to issue a legally required 72-hour lockout notice to workers.
The move, which follows an earlier vote by CUPE members to authorise a strike, sets up a near complete shutdown of Air Canada flight operations and service on 16 August.
“To provide customers certainty, Air Canada will begin a phased wind down of most of its operations to be completed over the next three days,” the carrier said on 13 August.
Flight cancellations could start as soon as 14 August.
Canada’s largest airport, Toronto Pearson International, said on 13 August that it is monitoring the situation and advised passengers to contact Air Canada for the latest information.
There are roughly 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants are represented by CUPE, and the union says 99.7% of those members voted to authorise a strike in a referendum on 5 August.
The union is seeking wage increases, as well as an end to what it describes as “unpaid work” carried out by cabin crew on the ground before a flight departs.
“Air Canada flight attendants perform hours of critical safety-related duties for free,” Wesley Lesosky, president of the CUPE unit representing Air Canada employees.
Those duties include normal pre-flight safety checks, plus responding to any unforeseen emergencies that may arise, such as urgent medical issues, fires, or aircraft evacuations.
“The company has offered to begin compensating flight attendants for some of these duties, but only at 50% of their hourly rate,” CUPE says.
The union also claims that cabin crew would not be compensated for time spent responding to a emergencies or safety-related issues on the ground, under Air Canada’s latest contract proposal.
The two sides also remain far apart on pay increases, unable even to agree on basic accounting figures.
Air Canada says it has offered a 38% boost to total compensation over four years, including a 25% pay rise in the first year of the deal. The union dismissed those numbers as “misleading ‘kitchen-sink’ figures”, claiming the actual increase will be just 17% over four years, when accounting for inflation.
“Air Canada’s offer of an 8% wage increase in year one would not even recoup the 9% that flight attendants have lost in purchasing power over the course of their previous contract,” CUPE says. “It is, in effect, a pay cut.”
The union claims the latest contract proposal from Air Canada would see an entry-level flight attendant earning less than Canada’s federal minimum wage, when evaluated on an hourly basis, for a month of full-time work.
Air Canada is describing the wage hikes sought by the union negotiators as “unsustainable increases”. The company has asked the Canadian government to refer the two parties to a binding arbitration process, managed by an independent third-party – a move rejected by CUPE.
“The arbitration process proposed would protect the interests of the parties by having them agree on an independent arbitrator who would impartially take into account the parties’ positions to arrive at a new, balanced contract by which both would abide,” Air Canada notes.
CUPE says such a move by the government in Ottawa would represent an end-run around its members’ right to take “job action”.
Air Canada is the country’s largest commercial carrier, serving about 130,000 passengers daily and controlling around 34% of Canada’s air travel market.
Although losing that capacity will impose a heavy toll on the Canadian economy and public, Air Canada chief executive Michael Rousseau says a managed shutdown of the airline is now the “only responsible course of action”.
“As we have seen elsewhere in our industry with other labour disruptions… a strike, can create chaos for travellers that is far, far worse,” said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive of Air Canada.
The Canadian minister overseeing labour issues, Patty Hajdu, said on 12 August that she is monitoring the situation and urged both sides to return to the bargaining table.
Hajdu noted that federal mediators will remain available until an agreement is signed.
“Canadians expect them to reach a deal one way or another,” she says.
