For the first time since the strike started over the weekend, negotiations between Air Canada and the union that represents 10,000 flight attendants resumed late Monday. At the height of the summer travel season, the strike is impacting over 130,000 passengers per day.
The two parties hadn’t spoken since late Friday or early Saturday. The union informed its members that the airline had contacted them and that a mediator in Toronto had helped to facilitate the meeting.
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It came after the union announced that the flight attendants would not go back to work despite the strike, which is currently in its third day, being ruled unlawful.
Following the union’s defiance of a second return-to-work order, Air Canada had earlier announced that rolling cancellations would now continue Tuesday afternoon. The union president stated that operations will not restart Monday evening, despite the nation’s largest airline having previously stated that they would.
Mark Hancock, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, or CUPE, which also covers certain non-public sectors, stated, “We will not be going back to the skies.”
Defying a second return-to-work order
On Monday, the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the flight attendants to return to work after declaring the strike unlawful. However, the union declared that it will disregard the order. A directive to submit to binding arbitration and terminate the strike by Sunday afternoon was also disregarded by union leaders.
According to the board, an independent administrative body that interprets and implements Canada’s labor rules, the union must notify all of its members in writing by Monday at noon that they must return to work.
So be it, if it means people like me end up behind bars. “It’s okay if it means our union gets fined,” Hancock stated. “Here, we’re trying to find a solution. Our members are looking for a solution, but the bargaining table is where the solution must be found.
What options the board and the government would have if the union persisted in refusing were not immediately apparent.
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Labor leaders are protesting the Canadian government’s recurrent application of a rule that denies workers the ability to strike and compel them to arbitrate disputes. The government has done this with workers at ports, railroads, and other locations in recent years.
“We are in a situation where this action is literally disrupting hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country,” Prime Minister Mark Carney stated. I implore both sides to find a speedy solution to this.
Carney emphasized that it was critical that flight attendants always receive appropriate compensation.
The federal government is investigating the unions’ claims that flight attendants are underpaid for their labor while aircraft are on the ground, and it is thinking of proposing legislation to solve the problem, according to Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu.
Approximately 700 flights are operated daily by Air Canada. On Monday, the airline projected that flight disruptions would impact 500,000 passengers.
Since last Thursday, when the airline started progressively stopping its operations in anticipation of the strike and lockout, Air Canada has canceled at least 1,219 domestic flights and 1,339 foreign flights, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, as of Monday afternoon.
Michael Rousseau, the CEO of Air Canada, stated that he was still seeking a speedy conclusion.
Shortly after the union declared it would prolong the strike, Rousseau stated on BNN Bloomberg, “We’re obviously hoping we can go tomorrow, but we’ll make that decision later today.”
Disrupted tourists, stranded passengers
Since Saturday, when Air Canada canceled their flight home after what was supposed to be a two-week vacation to visit family, Montreal resident Robert Brzymowski, his wife, and their two kids have been stuck in Prague.
Energy-efficient business consultant Brzymowski said he was supposed to start a new work on Monday but lost the contract since he didn’t return to Montreal in time.
“I didn’t intend to lose my job while on vacation,” he stated.
Disappointed with the airline’s apparent lack of communication, Brzymowski claimed that he went to the Prague airport on Monday morning and successfully persuaded them to schedule a new trip for August 25, which was more than a week after their first departure.
He added his wife will not be paid for the week since she spent the last of her paid time off for the year for this trip, and his kids will also miss the first day of the new school year.
Brzymowski declared, “I, for one, will never fly Air Canada again.” If I have to, I’ll take a boat.
Talks going back 8 months
After rejecting the airline’s proposal to participate in government-directed arbitration, which enables a third-party mediator to determine the conditions of a new contract, flight attendants left their jobs early on Saturday.
After eight months of contract negotiations, Air Canada and CUPE are still at odds over compensation and the unpaid labor that flight attendants perform when the aircraft is not in flight.
In its most recent offer, the airline claimed that a 38% rise in overall pay over four years—including perks and pensions—would have made our flight attendants the highest paid in Canada.
However, the union resisted, claiming that inflation made the first-year 8% rise insufficient.
According to Air Canada, travelers whose flights are affected can use the airline’s website or mobile app to receive a complete refund.
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From Las Vegas, Rio Yamat, a reporter for Airlines, contributed to this story.
