(Bloomberg) — Air Canada’s more than 10,000 flight attendants said they’ll strike for three days beginning Saturday after rejecting a sweetened offer from the airline and declining arbitration.
Flight attendants have served a 72-hour strike notice after failing to reach a deal, their union said in a statement. Members voted 99.7% in favor of a strike mandate, it added.
“We have shown up prepared, bargained in good faith, and made progress on some items. Despite our best efforts, Air Canada refused to address our core issues,” the union said, adding it continued to negotiate. “Air Canada’s latest response made one thing clear: they are not interested in resolving these issues.”
A further update will be issued Wednesday evening, the union added.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the carrier said the union “submitted a counteroffer seeking exorbitant increases, beyond those presented in earlier submissions, and today rejected an offer by the company to enter binding, third-party arbitration.” The parties “remain far apart on key issues,” it added.
On Monday, Air Canada offered to increase total compensation, including benefits and bonuses, by 25% in the first year and 38% over four years, the company said. That’s more than a previous offer of 20% in the first year and 32.5% over four years, as reported by Bloomberg News.
In response, the union said Tuesday that Air Canada’s latest salary increase offer works out to 17.2% over four years, adding that it’s “below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage — and still leaves flight attendants unpaid for all hours of work.”
The labor action will, per day, ground about 700 mainline and Air Canada Rouge flights, and leave approximately 130,000 passengers behind. A strike or lockout would not impact the nearly 300 regional flights of Air Canada Express, which is operated by third-party carriers.
Also on Monday, Air Canada sent a letter to the union, affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, proposing to resolve the matter through arbitration.
The offer, disclosed on CUPE’s website, was rejected. “Arbitrators rely on precedent and the status quo to make their determinations,” the union’s bargaining committee wrote. “Air Canada wants an arbitrator to do their dirty work for them to keep the status quo intact.”
The airline also agreed to pay workers for some of the time they spend on the ground, but the union is seeking 100% pay for all hours worked. Currently, Air Canada flight attendants are only paid when the aircraft is in motion and not for work such as boarding — a common practice in the industry, but one that’s increasingly being challenged.
Last month, United Airlines Holdings Inc.’s flight attendants rejected a contract providing cumulative pay increases of as much as 45.6% over five years — the agents would have been paid while passengers were boarding.
In 2022, Delta Air Lines Inc. became the first US airline to pay attendants during the boarding period.
Air Canada’s latest 10-year contract with its flight attendants expired at the end of March. The company and the union have been negotiating for the past eight months.
—With assistance from Danny Lee.
