Air Canada and its flight attendants have reached an agreement to end the public contract dispute between the two sides, according to the airline and the Canadian Union for Public Employees (CUPE).
Overseen by a mutually-agreed-upon mediator, the talks between Air Canada and the union that represents the 10,000 flight attendants for the organization lasted approximately nine hours before a deal was agreed upon.
Although neither Air Canada nor the CUPE commented on the specifics of the new deal, it includes ground pay. This would see staff get compensation (roughly 50 per cent of an attendant’s usual rate) for their time spent on the ground before a flight takes off. For almost all airlines within North America, flight attendants get paid the moment the plane takes off, and their shift ends the moment the plane lands.
Last year, Wesley Lesosky, a flight attendant and president of the CUPE Air Division, said to the press that, on average, flight attendants perform 35 hours of unpaid work per month, according to the CBC.
The number of unpaid hours and a general pay impasse were some of the key reasons for this weekend’s strike. In the days before workers officially stepped off the line, Air Canada gradually began winding down its operations, cancelling more than 1,219 domestic flights and 1,339 international flights, according to CBC News.
Air Canada estimated that the strike stranded more than 500,000 passengers, with most having to rebook with other airlines, costing thousands.
Air Canada announced that the first flights are scheduled to take off today, but travellers are advised that a return to regular service may take seven to ten days, as aircraft and crew were left stranded in countries all across the world during the strike.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: Air Canada
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
