Flight attendants at Air Canada have overwhelmingly rejected a tentative labor agreement that was only reached after an unprecedented three-day walkout, which shut the airline down, left tens of thousands of passengers stranded, and put the union in the spotlight after it defied a government order to get its members back to work.
On Sunday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced that the tentative contract had been rejected by 99.1% on a turnout of nearly 95% of Air Canada’s 10,000 flight attendants, at the conclusion of a two-week voting window.
This result had, unfortunately, been anticipated, with many flight attendants still furious that their fight to end the practice of unpaid work on the ground had only been partially resolved in the tentative labor deal.
Passengers will no doubt be worried that their travel plans could yet again be plunged into chaos, but Air Canada has moved to reassure customers that a secret pact it made with the union means that no further strike will take place while the dispute is settled.
Instead of going on strike, the union agreed with Air Canada that should its members rejected the tentative contract, then the two sides would enter into mediation in an attempt to resolve any outstanding issues over wages.
If an agreement still can’t be reached, then the dispute will be referred to binding arbitration. If an arbitrator does have to be called in, both sides will be legally bound to accept their recommendations on how to resolve the outstanding issues.
During this time, the union has agreed not to call on its members to take part in a strike.
What is the outstanding wage issue?
As the voting period only ended on Sunday, it’s too early to say exactly why flight attendants rejected the tentative agreement, but it’s believed to be down to an agreement between the union and Air Canada over how flight attendants are compensated for the time they are at work but not physically flying.
Traditionally, flight attendants were only paid for the time they spent in the, but the union has fought a long campaign to end ‘unpaid work’ for flight attendants. This issue came to a head last month when more than 99% of crew members at Air Canada voted in favor of strike action to eliminate this practice.
Air Canada has agreed to pay flight attendants for the time they spend on the plane on the ground boarding passengers – aptly named ‘boarding pay.’ However, in the first year of the deal, boarding pay will only be offered at 50% of the normal hourly flying rate, rising to 70% in the final year of the four-year contract.
Flight attendants had not only been hoping for better compensation for ‘boarding pay’ but also a new system that compensated them for any time they spend at work but on the ground.
How did the union reach a deal with Air Canada?
The deal finally reached a tentative labor agreement that it was happy to put forward to its members in the early hours of August 19 after more than nine hours of secret overnight talks with Air Canada, helped by an independent mediator.
The airline had been forced back to the bargaining table after initially rejecting strike action by flight attendants and instead choosing to initiate a so-called ‘lockout’ that effectively shut the carrier down.
Air Canada hoped the government would intervene and order its flight attendants back to work, and within hours of the walkout getting underway, that’s exactly what happened.
What no one was anticipating, however, was for the union to defy the government order and keep its members out on strike. It’s understood that this forced Air Canada to return to the negotiating table.
