Travelers worldwide were left stranded and rushing during the busiest summer travel season when Air Canada ceased all operations and over 10,000 flight attendants went on strike early Saturday when a deadline to reach an agreement passed.
later no agreement was reached, Canadian Union of Public Employees spokesman Hugh Pouliot stated that the strike had begun. Shortly later, the airline announced that it would suspend operations.
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As the union rejected the airline’s request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would remove its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to determine the terms of a new contract, the bitter contract dispute between Canada’s largest airline and the union that represents 10,000 of its flight attendants intensified on Friday.
Flight attendants walk off the job
About 1 a.m. EDT on Saturday, flight attendants left their jobs. At about the same time, Air Canada announced that it will start preventing flight attendants from entering airports.
In a meeting with the union and airline on Friday evening, Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu asked them to put in more effort in order to finalize a settlement.
That so little progress has been made is unacceptable. In a social media posting, Hajdu stated that Canadians are relying on both parties to make their best efforts.
Earlier Friday evening, the union met with Hajdu and Air Canada representatives, according to union spokesman Pouliot.
According to an email he sent, CUPE has communicated to the mediator our desire to carry on negotiating even if Air Canada hasn’t rejected our last two offers since Tuesday. Instead of going on strike, we are here to negotiate a deal.
Travelers are in limbo
Approximately 130,000 individuals will be impacted daily by a total shutdown, and 25,000 Canadians may become trapped overseas each day. Approximately 700 flights are operated daily by Air Canada.
Alex Laroche, 21, of Montreal, and his girlfriend had been saving for their trip to Europe since Christmas. They are now waiting to hear from Air Canada regarding the status of their Saturday night flight to Nice, France, putting their $8,000 trip with nonrefundable lodging on the line.
It’s unclear how long the airline’s aircraft would be grounded, but Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr has stated that after a tentative agreement is reached, it may take up to a week to fully resume operations.
According to Air Canada, passengers whose travel is affected can use the airline’s website or mobile app to receive a complete refund.
When feasible, the airline added, it will also provide alternate routes via other Canadian and international airlines. However, it cautioned that because other airlines’ flights are already filled because of the summer travel surge, it could not guarantee a speedy rebooking.
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According to Laroche, he thought about purchasing new tickets from a different airline, but the majority of them are almost completely booked and cost more than twice as much as the $3,000 they originally paid.
“It’s just a waiting game now,” he stated.
Laroche claimed that after learning about the main points at the heart of the contract talks, such as the salary dispute, he changed his mind about his initial displeasure with the union’s decision to go on strike.
According to Laroche, their pay is hardly enough to live on.
Sides say they’re far apart on pay
After around eight months of contract negotiations, Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have not yet reached a tentative agreement.
Regarding compensation and the unpaid labor flight attendants perform when planes are not in flight, both sides claim they are still at odds.
The airline claimed that its most recent offer would have made our flight attendants the highest paid in Canada by offering a 38% raise in total remuneration over four years, including benefits and pensions.
However, the union resisted, claiming that inflation made the first-year 8% rise insufficient.
Rio Yamat, a writer for Associated Press Airlines, reported from Las Vegas.
