More trouble for Air Canada fliers
Posted Oct 11, 2011 7:15 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The federal government is considering its options on how to handle the threat of a massive strike at the country’s largest airline.
Air Canada’s 6,800 flight attendants could walk off the job as early as 10:01 p.m. MST Thursday after rejecting the latest contract offer from the airline.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees posted the strike notice late Sunday, after 65 per cent of those who voted on a tentative deal, reached in September, rejected the terms and conditions.
The union did not specify how many members voted on the deal, which was reached as the federal government threatened back-to-work legislation.
Many air travellers who spoke with 660News say they’re reluctant to book with Air Canada.
“I try not to travel with them… I just don’t find the service is there,” says one man.
Another traveller says although he’s booked with a different airline for a current trip, he’s never had a problem with Air Canada in the past.
“I like the Air Canada service. I’ve had no problem with it,” he says.
This is the second time the flight attendants turned down a tentative agreement. They turned down one offer in August, triggering a new round of contract talks last month.
Jeff Taylor, the president of CUPE’s Air Canada division, said in a news release that the second rejection shows how frustrated flight attendants are with the airline after years of giving concessions.
The failure to come to an agreement is causing at least one analyst to question if union leaders at the bargaining table understand what their members want.
Chris Murray of PI Financial said the second rejection of a tentative deal raises questions about union leaders’ ability to bargain in good faith.
Murray says he isn’t surprised the federal government is readying to step into the dispute to prevent a strike at the country’s largest airline.
Air Canada issued a statement indicating it hoped to avoid a work stoppage, but said it would maintain a partial schedule in the event of a strike.
“We are perplexed and disappointed that two tentative agreements negotiated in good faith and unanimously recommended by the democratically elected representatives of our flight attendants have failed to be ratified,” Duncan Dee, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said.
Neither side said they would comment beyond what was in their statements, which didn’t mention if negotiations would resume.
A strike would not likely last long as the federal government was expected to intervene with back-to-work legislation. A strike by the airline’s customer service agents ended after three days and produced a tentative contract when Labour Minister Lisa Raitt indicated she would intervene last month.
In the CUPE statement, Taylor expressed hope that Raitt would not use the same tactics.
“We ask the federal government, in the strongest possible terms, to respect our right to collective bargaining and not intervene unilaterally in this dispute,” said Taylor.
Air Canada said it would allow customers booked for travel over the next six days to change dates free of charge.
Union leaders had predicted the revamped offer would be approved. They said they had managed to get about 80 per cent of what the membership had demanded in the areas of wages, pensions, crew rest, working conditions and work rules.
