Air Canada cancels more flights as cabin crew strike drags on
Air Canada’s flight attendants stayed on strike Monday even after the country’s labour board ordered them back to work.
Air Canada’s flight attendants stayed on strike Monday even after the country’s labour board ordered them back to work, causing the airline to delay plans to restart flights.
The union representing some 10,500 flight staff said it wouldn’t ask members to return to their jobs, as a deadline set by the Canada Industrial Relations Board came and went at 12 pm, Toronto time.
The impasse has grounded Canada’s largest airline since Saturday, disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands of people during the peak summer season. The union is seeking higher pay and compensation for periods the plane isn’t in motion, such as work they perform during boarding.
Air Canada suspended its financial outlook for the year on Monday morning, citing the labour disruption, and its shares fell. The airline had originally planned to restart some flights on Sunday after the CIRB’s initial ruling, then moved that to Monday. But Chief Executive Officer Michael Rousseau said on BNN Bloomberg Television that all flights were cancelled, and the airline hopes to resume on Tuesday.
At Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, passing cars honked for the striking workers and passengers boarding an airport shuttle train cheered for a group of Canadian Union of Public Employees members as they disembarked at Terminal 1 to join the picket line.
{{/usCountry}}At Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, passing cars honked for the striking workers and passengers boarding an airport shuttle train cheered for a group of Canadian Union of Public Employees members as they disembarked at Terminal 1 to join the picket line.
{{/usCountry}}The chants and picketing intensified after the deadline passed.
{{/usCountry}}The chants and picketing intensified after the deadline passed.
{{/usCountry}}“Everybody has that feeling of being a little bit scared. It’s new territory for all of us, but we are very strong, we are very united,” said Lillian Speedie, vice president of CUPE local 4092, which represents flight attendants in Toronto. “This is not where we wanted to be. This is not where anyone wanted to be. But it’s the only way we can get our employer to listen to our demands. And our demands are not extravagant.”
{{/usCountry}}“Everybody has that feeling of being a little bit scared. It’s new territory for all of us, but we are very strong, we are very united,” said Lillian Speedie, vice president of CUPE local 4092, which represents flight attendants in Toronto. “This is not where we wanted to be. This is not where anyone wanted to be. But it’s the only way we can get our employer to listen to our demands. And our demands are not extravagant.”
{{/usCountry}}Speedie added that flight attendants who work a full picket shift “will actually make more with strike pay from CUPE National than they would working for Air Canada.”
It’s “disappointing” that Air Canada and the union were unable to negotiate an agreement, Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Monday morning.
The federal government asked the CIRB to step in, order the flight attendants back to work and send the matter to arbitration. Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said it was clear the airline and the union wouldn’t be able to reach a deal.
But the union has defied the labour board and said it wants to “dismantle” the legal process the government is using to end the strike, known as Section 107.
“If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it,” Mark Hancock, national president of CUPE, told reporters on Monday afternoon.
The airline hasn’t said how much money it expects to lose for each day of the strike. One analyst has estimated it at C$75 million ($54.3 million) a day in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.
Rousseau said the carrier would take a week or more to resume operations after flight attendants return to work.
The strike affects Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge services. Regional flights by Air Canada Express are operated by third-party airlines, meaning some flights to US destinations such as Boston and Cincinnati are still scheduled to go ahead.
