As Air Canada flight attendants participate in a nationwide “day of action” Monday, a labour expert says the union and the airline will have tough talks ahead in order to avert a strike by Saturday.
The Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Air Canada will continue bargaining this week. Workers could decide to strike and give 72-hours’ notice as early as Aug. 13 if they don’t agree on a new contract.
“There’s a lot of issues that accumulate over a 10-year contract that need to be addressed,” Barry Eidlin, a labour expert and an associate professor of sociology at McGill University, said in an interview from Chicago with CTV Your Morning on Monday.
“So that’s going to take a high-pressure situation to actually reach a deal.”
Union spokesperson Hugh Pouliot told CTVNews.ca on Monday that the 10-year contract for flight attendants expired March 31.
Air Canada flight attendants on Aug. 5 voted 99.7 per cent in favour of strike action if necessary.
For the day of action Monday, CUPE stated in a message that members will show up in their uniforms at 1 p.m. ET at major airports in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
The union said more than 10,000 members of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge are standing in solidarity with their bargaining committee as they push for a “fair deal.” Jazz and PAL, which operate Air Canada Express flights, aren’t affected by the possible strike.
Eidlin said the day of action is a “silent” protest rather than an effort to disrupt flights or traffic.
It’s a strategy with two purposes, he added. One is an “escalation tactic” in negotiations with the company.
“This is a show of unity, a show of strength,” Eidlin said.
The second purpose of the day of action is to gain public support.
“I doubt many Canadians are aware of the day-to-day working life of the flight attendants that are serving them on these flights and particularly are unaware of the core demand that they only start getting paid when the door of the plane closes,” Eidlin said.
The union is pushing for increased wages and compensation for unpaid hours, such as during preflight safety checks, boarding, deplaning and assisting passengers if there’s a medical emergency.
“Any of our federally regulated safety checks — we are not compensated for,” said Shanyn Elliott, mobilization and engagement committee co-chair with the Air Canada component of CUPE, in an interview with CTV News posted Sunday.
Speaking to CTV News Channel on Monday, Elliott said it is standard industry practice for the airline to only pay flight attendants when the aircraft is in motion.
“Just because it is the normal environment in the industry, it doesn’t mean that it is right nor does it mean that it’s OK by today’s standards,” she said.
Asked for updates on the talks, Elliott said she is not able to speak about what is happening at the bargaining table.
“What I can speak at 100 per cent confidence is we want to be able to ratify a new collective agreement. We don’t want to go on strike,” she said. “There are things that need to be negotiated at the table and we’re standing behind our union until that is accomplished.”
Wesley Lesosky, president of the union, said in a message on a website providing information on the strike that the goal is to obtain a “fair contract.”
“But if the company refuses to come to the table with the respect we’ve earned, we are ready,” he wrote.
Air Canada previously stated on its website that a strike vote from the union is a “normal step in the negotiation process.”
“Air Canada is determined to reach a fair and equitable collective agreement that recognizes the contributions of its Flight Attendants and supports the competitiveness and long-term growth of the company,” it wrote.
With files from CTV National News’ Kamil Karamali, and CTV News’ Joanna Lavoie and Joe Van Wonderen
