Air Canada was forced to suspend its recovery plan after its on -board agents said their intention to continue their strike. For their part, travelers remain immersed in uncertainty, without knowing when they can leave.
What to know
- Air Canada’s on-board agents sparked a strike on Saturday morning, the airline replied with a lockout;
- The Minister of Employment, Patty Hajdu, ordered the two parties to resume their activities;
- The union said on Sunday that it would challenge Ottawa’s order;
- Air Canada announced that it wanted to resume its flights on Monday evening.
A hundred people gathered on Sunday morning in front of the Air Canada headquarters for a solidarity demonstration with the on -board agents, despite high rain.
“Working without being paid is over!” “Says Patrick Glutney, president of the SCFP-Québec (Canadian Public Service Syndicate), under the cheers of the crowd.
“We are here to demonstrate to the liberal government of Canada that we will not let ourselves be done,” he said on the sidelines of the demonstration. “The decision [de continuer ou non la grève] will belong to the executive of the Air Canada component, “he said.
Photo Charles William Pelletier, special collaboration
The president of the SCFP-Québec, Patrick Gloutney
In an email transmitted by a union spokesperson, the SCFP said that on-board agents “lived on strike”.
After this announcement, in a statement sent around 1 p.m. on Sunday, Air Canada said that the airline would nevertheless resume its flights ” [lundi] evening “.
Travelers “taken hostage”
Chaos reigned at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport at the time of The press. Several travelers were blocked at the airport, not knowing when they could leave.
Passing near an Air Canada agent, we heard him entrust to a traveler: “It is an indescribable brothel. We don’t even know what to say to passengers anymore. »»
Alexandra Motto-Ros and her friend, Audrey Bocchi, had to return to Montreal on Saturday to go to Lyon. It has been twice, in two days, that they go to the airport, with their three children. It was only after they recorded their luggage that they were told that ultimately, their Sunday morning flight was also canceled.
Photo Charles William Pelletier, special collaboration
Alexandra Motto-Ros and Audrey Bocchi
“We still don’t know when or how we will be able to go home,” says Alexandra Motto-Ros.
For their part, Thomas Piegay and Laurence Souphron wanted to return this Sunday in Guadeloupe with their two children aged 7 and 11.
Photo Charles William Pelletier, special collaboration
Thomas Piegay and Laurence Souphron, and their children
“They told us that there was a gradual recovery of thefts at 2 p.m., but they also told us to take a hotel. We no longer know what to think. They themselves do not seem to know what it is. I think we just will spend the day at the airport, ”says Laurence Souphron, resigned.
Hector Bolmont is also one of the travelers whose flight is canceled. The 19 -year -old was to go back from vacation this Sunday to return to Paris.
“I would have liked to be at least rebooked,” he sighs. He is scheduled to leave Paris on Tuesday for a long -term planned trip to celebrate his mother’s 50th anniversary; It is no longer certain to be able to go there in time.
“I am disgusted with this showdown between Air Canada and her on -board agents,” said a reader in an email sent to the press. She and her family are stuck in Portugal and do not know how to return to Canada. She has planned to buy reimbursable tickets, but they are rare, are very expensive and include many stops.
“We are really taken hostage,” she denounces.
A decision that challenges the federal government
Federal Minister of Employment, Patty Hajdu, ordered an enforceable arbitration on Saturday, asking the airline and her on-board agents to resume their activities, ending a strike and a lockout after less than 12 hours.
The SCFP accused Minister Hajdu of having given in to Air Canada requests.
Photo Charles William Pelletier, special collaboration
Air Canada reports that the work stoppage led to the suspension of more than 700 flights.
On Sunday morning, Air Canada initially announced its intention to resume its flights in the evening, before returning to this statement following the union’s announcement and planning the flights for Monday evening.
“During this process, some flights will be canceled over the next seven to ten days, until the schedule is stabilized,” the company said in its first press release.
Air Canada said it had received the Order of the Canadian Industrial Relations Council to resume its activities and to ensure that on -board agents resume their functions before 2 p.m.
Air Canada reported that the work stoppage led to the suspension of more than 700 flights.
The Air Canada component of the SCFP, which represents more than 10,000 airline agents of the airline, announced on Saturday that its members went to the picking lines after being unable to conclude a last minute agreement with the employer. Air Canada put its locked-out on-the-on-out agents about 30 minutes later due to the strike.
In a statement released on Saturday evening, the union also denounced a situation of conflict of interest, saying that a former Air Canada lawyer, Maryse Tremblay, will decide the end of the means of pressure of the on -board agents.
“The SCFP demanded that Maryse Tremblay rejects herself in this case, but she refused and will chair hearings anyway,” said the organization.
With the Canadian press
