{"id":120023,"date":"2025-09-04T19:13:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T19:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/120023\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T19:13:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T19:13:09","slug":"air-canada-flight-attendants-hold-controversial-wage-vote-workers-rights-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/120023\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Canada flight attendants hold controversial wage vote | Workers’ Rights News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vancouver, Canada: Nearly three weeks after flight attendants went on strike against Canada\u2019s largest airline, Air Canada workers are voting on a contract to resolve the dispute, which galvanised the country\u2019s labour movement.<\/p>\n

Roughly 10,500 flight attendants launched a three-day strike on August 16, during the country\u2019s peak month for air travel. After a day on picket lines, Ottawa ordered them back to work \u2014 but union leaders refused<\/a>, risking jail and fines.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Now the tentative agreement they reached on August 19 is up for a vote among union members. Voting ends Saturday, and results are expected shortly after.<\/p>\n

The dispute is estimated to have cost the airline as much as 300 million Canadian dollars, and cancelled flights for a half-million travellers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was the first time any union has defied a long-obscure \u201cindustrial peace\u201d clause in Canada\u2019s 40-year-old labour code \u2014 one that\u2019s been used to end strikes a half-dozen times in just the past year.<\/p>\n

But there is growing discontent over the tentative contract reached between their union and the airline, according to rank-and-file employees and labour analysts.<\/p>\n

Several flight attendants told Al Jazeera the deal was reached under \u201cduress\u201d after the federal government declared their strike \u201cunlawful\u201d, ordered striking workers back to their jobs<\/a> on August 16, their first day on picket lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis came about under quite a bit of duress\u201d, said Oliver Cooper, an Air Canada service director in Vancouver who started as a flight attendant with the airline nine years ago. \u201cWe haven\u2019t really freely negotiated our contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the threats of jail time for our leaders. We had threats of fines for the union. It shouldn\u2019t have to come to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some flight attendants are upset about both the contents of the deal, but also the way it was forcibly imposed by Ottawa, said Adam Donald King, assistant professor of labour studies at the University of Manitoba.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey effectively have a deal they can\u2019t refuse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018We remain hopeful,\u2019 says airline<\/p>\n

Flight attendants might, in fact, refuse the deal.<\/p>\n

As voting began last week, divisions surfaced over what the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) called a \u201ctransformational\u201d agreement.<\/p>\n

In its first year, it includes a 12 percent wage increase for newer hires, 8 percent for more senior workers, and nearly 3 percent raises in subsequent years.<\/p>\n

The airline said it hopes employees support it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe agreement was achieved without concessions from the union, and included improvements to wages, pension and benefits\u201d, an Air Canada spokesperson said via email.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we remain hopeful the agreement will be ratified, there is a possibility that it will not be accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it is rejected, only the wage clauses would go to binding arbitration. Other issues are set in stone, with no strikes or lockouts allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of their courage in walking a picket line, our members forced the company back to the table, with a better offer \u2014 except on wages\u201d, CUPE spokesperson Hugh Pouliot told Al Jazeera in an email.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will respect whatever decision is made by our members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper is among those voting no, even though he sees some positives, particularly the salary boost for new hires.<\/p>\n

Starting wages in the deal are below 34 Canadian dollars ($24.60) an hour \u2014 a four-dollar raise \u2014 which Cooper said does not keep pace with inflation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people need to get lifted out of poverty\u201d, Cooper said. \u201cI hear that from my younger colleagues, and I support them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are desperate, and we are rolling the dice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unpaid work<\/p>\n

A major issue for flight attendants is their many unpaid work hours.<\/p>\n

With some exceptions, many say they often work for free \u2014 including when helping passengers board aircraft, dealing with excess luggage, awaiting delayed flights, and even handling medical situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of the public didn\u2019t understand how we weren\u2019t paid before we board the aircraft, only from takeoff to landing\u201d, said Reagan Goulding, a flight attendant for three decades. \u201cIf the engines aren\u2019t running and we\u2019re parked, we\u2019re not paid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t seem fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Air<\/a>The strike cancelled flights for about half a million travellers [File: Andrej Ivanov\/AFP]<\/p>\n

Under the new tentative agreement, the airline will pay up to 60 minutes for time on the ground, but only at half their hourly wage.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, pay for ground duties was an element of overall compensation\u201d, Air Canada\u2019s spokesperson said. \u201cThe new contract contains specific provisions for ground pay that are industry-leading in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal jobs minister says she is now investigating airlines\u2019 reliance on unpaid work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Minister has launched a probe into unpaid work in the airline sector\u201d, spokesperson Aissa Diop said via email. \u201cNobody should work for free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goulding predicts a no vote by most of her fed-up coworkers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing so much service on the ground\u201d, she said. \u201cThe whole tentative agreement doesn\u2019t give us a whole lot of things. \u201cWe were ready to stay out [on strike], the union had us all supportive, we had their backs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like we just gave up \u2026 There\u2019s a lot of unhappy people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allegations of federal \u2018bias\u2019<\/p>\n

One sticking point for flight attendants Al Jazeera interviewed was the way the strike was suppressed.<\/p>\n

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) issued its back-to-work decree at the request of the jobs minister \u2014 citing Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which lets the minister intervene to \u201csecure industrial peace\u201d.<\/p>\n

The order was signed by chairperson Maryse Tremblay, whom CUPE complained should step aside from ruling on their strike, alleging a \u201creasonable apprehension of bias\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tremblay\u00a0was Air Canada\u2019s senior in-house legal counsel for seven years, until 2004, and later represented the airline at two law firms, most recently in 2022.<\/p>\n

But she \u201cdismissed the allegations of bias\u201d, declaring on August 22 that \u201cprior experience alone is not sufficient\u201d to prove a conflict.<\/p>\n

The agency declined to comment, saying \u201cCIRB\u2019s decisions speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe worked for the company\u201d, Goulding said. \u201cIt speaks for itself, and the government did nothing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A warning bell\u2019<\/p>\n

King said while the labour code\u2019s Section 107 existed for decades, it was seldom used in favour of parliamentary back-to-work legislation.<\/p>\n

This past year, it\u2019s been used a half-dozen times for federally regulated workplaces, including ports, postal, railways, and aviation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther unions complied and filed court challenges, but ended their strikes\u201d, King said. \u201cThis is the first time a union has said no.\u201d<\/p>\n

CUPE has since sued Ottawa over Section 107, alleging a violation of unionists\u2019 Charter-protected rights \u201cto defend these important bargaining rights against future attacks\u201d.<\/p>\n

This \u201cremarkable moment\u201d in Canadian history, King said, suggests a pattern after the pandemic \u2014 that workers have heightened expectations and \u201ca greater willingness to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flight attendants\u2019 defiant stance was brief, but it could serve as a \u201cwake-up call\u201d about increased labour assertiveness, Cooper says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happened with Air Canada is just maybe a warning bell\u201d, he said. \u201cTomorrow\u2019s labour leaders are going to be desperate.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly, a wildcat strike or a general strike might not seem so threatening; the benefits might far outweigh the consequences collectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

For flight attendant Henly Larden, vice president of CUPE\u2019s Vancouver local, regardless of a yes or no, this week\u2019s vote is a chance for her colleagues to finally have their say \u2014 even though their voices \u201cwere stifled\u201d by both employer and government.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach and every one of us will have an opportunity to assess the agreement on its merits and cast our vote to ratify or not,\u201d she wrote in a blog post, \u201cfree from undue pressure or influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper said he feels proud of his colleagues after standing their ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty fiery,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIt was something to be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vancouver, Canada: Nearly three weeks after flight attendants went on strike against Canada\u2019s largest airline, Air Canada workers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[16595,1686,49,48,46,66836,44,125,1690,25454],"class_list":["post-120023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-aviation","tag-business-and-economy","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy","tag-labour-rights","tag-news","tag-unemployment","tag-us-canada","tag-workers-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}