(Montreal) Air Canada will start to cancel some of its flights on Thursday, while its 10,000 on -board agents intend to trigger a strike on Saturday.
The Air Canada component of the Canadian Public Service Syndicate (SCFP) formally transmitted to the employer its strike notice at 72 hours early on Wednesday.
“This decision was not taken lightly, but it is necessary. We are ready, strong and we will not back down, ”decided the union in a press release.
The strike will therefore start at 0:58 am on Saturday if the games do not get along by then. Air Canada replied by transmitting to the union a lockout opinion, which would start at 1:30 am on Saturday.
However, the impacts on travelers will be felt before the start of the strike because Air Canada will start the gradual stop of most of its activities on Thursday.
“The first flights will be canceled on August 14, others on August 15, and there will be a complete cessation of Air Canada and Red Air Canada flights on August 16,” said the airline on Wednesday morning.
Air Canada explains that a sudden or not managed work stoppage causes “much more important than planned flight suspension”.
“A gradual reduction in activities allows Air Canada to inform its customers in advance, to reduce the risk that they remain blocked and to give them a clearer portrait of the situation,” said the carrier.
Customers whose flights are canceled will be entitled to a refund.
Some passengers could be offered a place on a flight from another company, but it will not be possible for everyone, “since the other carriers are already very busy due to the summer peak period,” warned Air Canada.
Air Canada and Air Canada Red transport around 130,000 customers per day, depending on the company. Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz and Pal Airlines will continue to be insured normally.
Wages and unpaid work
The union maintains that certain progress has been made since the start of negotiations, but it accuses Air Canada of refusing to tackle “fundamental issues”.
“Over the past nine months, we have presented solid and based on wages and unpaid work, all based on equity and industry standards,” argued the president of the Air Canada component of the SCFP, Wesley Lesosky, in a press release.
“Air Canada’s response to our proposals clearly shows one thing: the company is not interested in resolving these crucial issues”, in its opinion.
The latest Air Canada offer included a total salary increase of 38 % over four years, as well as provisions concerning “remuneration for the ground service and other improvements in terms of balance between professional and privacy, career and retirement”.
The union considers, however, that the salary increase of 8 % in the first year “would not even allow to compensate for the 9 % loss of purchasing power suffered by on -board agents during their previous employment contract”.
Use of arbitration?
Judging that negotiations were deadlocked, Air Canada asked to start an enforceable arbitration process. The union refused, saying that he preferred to negotiate an agreement on which his members could then vote.
From the point of view of the union, Air Canada “clearly placed on the fact that the federal government will come to its aid by pre -empting the law of on -board agents, protected by the Charter, to carry out union actions”.
For his part, the president and chief executive officer of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, reiterated his request concerning the taxation of an enforceable arbitration.
“Although we were ready to negotiate with the SCFP, we asked for the arbitration imposed by the government, because we now consider that this is the only way to close negotiations and mitigate the effects on travelers, businesses and the Canadian economy,” he argued.
On Tuesday, Federal Minister of Employment, Patty Hajdu, said that she was monitoring the situation closely and that she encouraged the two parties to stay at the negotiating table.
Confirming that federal mediators remained available, she noted that the best agreements “are those that the parties conclude themselves”.
“Canadians expect them to reach an agreement in one way or another,” she said.
A threat of strike had also hovered over Air Canada in the fall of 2024, but the company and its pilots had concluded an agreement in principle just before the schedule fixed by the two parties.