Canadian govt moves to end Air Canada strike

Asks labour board to order binding arbitration, union seeks parity on wages with Air Transat

MONTREAL/TORONTO:

The Canadian government on Saturday moved to end a strike by Air Canada cabin crew by asking a labour board to order binding arbitration, an action that the country's largest carrier had sought and which the striking flight attendants opposed.

Thousands of Air Canada unionised flight attendants walked off the job over a wage contract dispute just before 0500 GMT, forcing Air Canada to cancel all its 700 daily flights, affecting more than 100,000 travellers who had to find alternative flights or stay put.

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu at a news conference said she had asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration on both sides and order an immediate end to the strike.

Air Canada had indicated it would take four to five days to resume full operations, she said, assuming the board granted the government's request, which it usually does.

The carrier had offered a 38% increase in total compensation for flight attendants over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year, which the Canadian Union of Public Employees said was insufficient. Attendants are currently paid only when their plane is moving. The union is seeking compensation for time spent on the ground between flights and when helping passengers board.

Wesley Lesosky, President of the Air Canada component of CUPE, said in a press conference in Toronto earlier in the day that there were no bargaining sessions scheduled between the two sides, which have held on-and-off negotiations for months.

Outside Toronto Pearson International Airport – the country's busiest – hundreds of cabin crew waved flags, banners and picket signs. Union officials called on members to assemble outside all the country's major airports, including in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

Montreal-based Air Canada said the suspended flights included those operated by its budget arm, Air Canada Rouge. The stoppage would affect about 130,000 customers a day, the carrier said in a statement. Flights by Air Canada's regional affiliates – Air Canada Jazz and PAL Airlines – will operate as usual.

The union has said Air Canada offered to compensate flight attendants for some work that is now unpaid at 50% of their hourly rate.

A source close to the negotiations told Reuters the union is looking for parity on wages with Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat, where flight attendants approved a contract last year that provided for total compounded increases of 30% over five years, making them the highest paid in the industry in Canada.