Travellers beware — Air Canada flight attendants could walk off the job as early as Aug. 16 after giving their union an overwhelming strike mandate ahead of contract negotiations with the airline that resume Friday.
Air Canada component members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees voted 99.7 per cent in favour of a strike mandate, with only 0.3 per cent voting against, Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada CUPE unit, told the Star on Tuesday after more than a week of voting.
“We are incredibly happy and proud of this,” the longtime flight attendant said. “Not only do we have a high strike vote but also an incredibly high membership participation,” with 94.6 per cent of unit members participating in the strike mandate vote.
“We go to the bargaining table armed with this on Friday.”
More than 10,000 workers will be in a legal strike position Aug. 16 and could walk off the job as long as the union has given Air Canada 72 hours notice of a work stoppage, Lesosky added, noting that wages will be the main bargaining issue.
Asked what he says to people planning to fly on Air Canada and worried about possible strike-related cancellations, he replied: “I think this is a strong strike mandate not only for the union but also for the company to recognize.
“The company needs to see that ‘Hey, the employees are banding together, they are united.’ I’ve been with Air Canada for almost 25 years, and this is a strong, strong turnout, so hopefully (Air Canada managers) look at it, they see it, and they come to the table to come up with a tentative agreement and avoid any kind of job action.”
The vote, which began July 28, comes after the union ended the conciliation process with no deal reached. The union has been in contract talks since the start of the year.
The current agreement has not been updated since 2015.
“Ten years is a long time to go without bargaining, including working through the pandemic,” said Steven Tufts, an associate professor specializing in labour at York University.
The union has said that despite sustained efforts, including in the conciliation process with a federally appointed mediator, key issues such as pay, unpaid work and pensions remain unresolved.
“Very low or poverty wages” is top of mind in negotiations, said Lesosky, adding employees have seen a two per cent wage increase each year, which does not align with current costs of living or inflation. Lesosky said there was no wage increase this year due to ongoing labour disputes.
“An entry-level flight attendant currently starts out at $1,952 a month, pre-tax,” said Lesosky. “That’s less than the federal minimum wage, and clearly not enough to live on,” Lesosky added, saying flight attendants are often stationed in major cities like Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary where costs of living are higher.
When it comes to unpaid work, Lesosky said flight attendants are only compensated for time spent working on flights once they are in motion.
Currently, flight attendants are not paid for their work on a plane while it is at a gate prior to takeoff, if there is a red alert at the gate meaning the plane cannot take off due to dangerous weather, or when tending to passenger medical emergencies on the ground, according to Lesosky.
“What’s happened, in an increasingly complex industry with a lot of disruptions,” said Tufts, “is flight attendants are giving a lot of time to the employer.”
David Doorey, associate professor of work law at York University, said before the release of the vote results that he expected a strong mandate to strike. “Usually, workers vote overwhelmingly in favour of a strike in order to send a strong signal to the employer in negotiations.”
But a vote to strike does not necessarily mean a strike — or that disruptions to customers can be expected.
“A strike vote does not mean there will be a strike, just that a strike is a possibility if no deal is reached. A strong strike vote raises the stakes in negotiations and often helps the parties focus on getting a deal,” Doorey said.
There is also a mandatory cooling-off period, said Tufts, adding that there is fair notice of a strike given, if decided upon.
Meanwhile, CUPE is hoping a strong vote to strike will lead to constructive conversations at the table.
“We value where we work and what we do,” said Lesosky. “We just want to be fairly compensated for it and close a lot of those gaps that have been left open for business.”
Air Canada did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
In a July 25 statement, the airline said it “remains fully available to continue negotiations toward a fair and equitable collective agreement with CUPE that recognizes the contributions of its flight attendants and supports the competitiveness and long-term growth of the company.”
