Published
Air transportAir Canada hostesses and stewards continue their strike
Some 10,000 on -board agents have ceased work and chose Sunday to challenge the takeover of the government -oriented activities.
Some 10,000 on -board agents have stopped work to request wage increases and compensation for unpaid ground work, including during boarding.
AFPDiscussions between Air Canada and the hostesses and stewards on strike began on Monday evening to try to find a way out of a social movement that affects 500,000 people since Saturday and paralyzes the largest company in the country.
Some 10,000 on-board agents have stopped work during the weekend to request wage increases and compensation for unpaid ground work, including during boarding.
A few hours later, the Canadian government, believing that the strike “directly affected the Canadian economy,” decided to intervene, invoking a legal provision to suspend the strike and force the two parties to a binding arbitration.
But Air Canada employees chose on Sunday to challenge the injunction of the Canadian Industrial Relations Council (CCRI), a regulatory court, which had ordered them to resume work.
On Monday, they said again their determination and announced that they would not resume work, even if the regulators of the CCI increased the pressure by ordering on -board agents “to immediately resume their functions and refrain from participating in illegal strike activities”.
On Monday evening, the on -board staff union announced a meeting with Air Canada. “For the moment, the strike is still underway and talks are just beginning,” said the organization affiliated with the Canadian Public Service Syndicate (SCFP) on Facebook.
According to the Canadian national carrier, which directly serves 180 cities in Canada and abroad, the strike led to cancellations affecting 500,000 people.
“If Air Canada thinks that the planes will fly this afternoon, they are totally wrong. This will not happen today, “said Mark Hancock, president of the Canadian Public Service union at a press conference.
“The most profitable companies use all the tools at their disposal to impose wages of misery and crush the rights of employees. The only objective of our members is to be paid for their working time, ”added Candace Rennick, secretary-treasurer of the same union.
Preceding terrible
Speaking for the first time on the subject, Prime Minister Mark Carney told journalists in Ottawa on Monday that he was “disappointing” that eight months of negotiations between the carrier and the union did not lead to an agreement.
“We fully recognize the crucial role that on -board agents play to ensure the safety of Canadians and their families when they travel,” said Carney.
“It is important that they are equitably paid,” he added, before explaining that Canada had hundreds of thousands of citizens and visitors faced with a complicated situation.
During the weekend, the union had denounced the government’s intervention (thanks to section 107 of the Canada Labor Code), saying that this established a “terrible preceding” and rewarded “the refusal of Air Canada to negotiate fairly”.
A decision that also pushes labor law specialists to question, explains Rafael Gomez, professor at the University of Toronto.
“Many of the labor and community law specialists think that section 107 is used in an inappropriate manner,” he explains. “In particular because it is planned for a situation where strikes have lasted for a long time and where there is no possible outcome.”
The Canadian economy, although showing signs of resilience, is beginning to experience the effects of the trade war initiated by the American president, Donald Trump, with customs duties affecting crucial sectors for the country such as automotive, aluminum and steel.
In this context, the Canadian Business Council, which brings together leaders of more than a hundred large companies, said the strike was likely to cause “immediate and considerable damage to all Canadians”.
(afp)
