After a dramatic weekend, Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have reached a tentative agreement on behalf of the company’s 10,000 flight attendants.
Last week, a strike notice was issued by the union, which was met with a lockout notice, issued by the company.
Air Canada grounded and cancelled their scheduled flights for the weekend, but the strike only ended up lasting less than 12 hours before the federal government stepped in to intervene.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) issued a directive to the union and its employees to return to work, stating that their strike was “unlawful.”
Workers returned to the job at noon (EDT) on Monday, August 18th, and now Air Canada is slowly getting their aircraft back on schedule and in the air.
The union members were fighting to be paid for all their time on the job, better wages and better work conditions.
Since the federal government stepped in to help mediate negotiations, both CUPE and Air Canada have announced that a potential deal has been struck. Going forward, the union members will have to vote on the ratification of this new agreement.
“Unpaid work is over,” wrote CUPE in a media release. “We have reclaimed our voice and our power.”
“When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back — and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”
Air Canada operations
Air Canada wanted to resolve the situation as quickly as possible to have as little impact as possible on their customers.
Now, the goal is getting their planes back in the air.
“Our priority now is to get them moving as quickly as possible. Restarting a major carrier like Air Canada is a complex undertaking,” said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada.
“Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days. I assure them that everyone at Air Canada is doing everything possible to enable them to travel soon.”
The airline’s first flights back are scheduled for the evening of August 19th.
However, the airline’s return to full, regular service may require seven to ten days as aircraft and crew are currently out of position.
Air Canada says that during this process, some flights will be cancelled over the next seven to ten days until the schedule is stabilized.
No additional details on the tentative deal have been shared at this time, and likely will not be made public until the ratification process has been completed.
