Vancouver, Canada: Almost three weeks after flight attendants attacked Canada’s biggest airline, Air Canada workers are voting for a contract to resolve the dispute.
Approximately 10,500 flight attendants began their three-day strike on August 16th during the peak month of air travel. A day after the Pickett Line, Ottawa ordered them to work, but union leaders refused, putting prisons and fines at risk.
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Currently, the interim agreement they reached on August 19 depends on the vote among members. Voting closes on Saturday and results are expected soon.
The dispute costs the airline as much as $300 million Canadian dollars and is estimated to have cancelled flights for 500,000 travelers.
It was the first time a union had ignored a long-term “industrial peace” clause in Canada’s 40-year-old labor code.
However, according to Rank and File employees and labor analysts, there is growing dissatisfaction with the interim contracts they have reached between their union and the airline.
Several flight attendants told Al Jazeera they reached a deal under “obsessive” after the federal government declared their strike “illegal” and ordered an order to return to their work on the first day at the Pickett Line on August 16th.
“The airline’s flight attendant nine years ago,” said Oliver Cooper, Vancouver’s Air Canada Services Director, who started out as an airline flight attendant nine years ago. “We are not free to negotiate contracts.
“We had a prison time threat to our leaders. We had a fine threat to our unions. We didn’t have to come to that.”
Adam Donald King, an assistant professor of labor studies at the University of Manitoba, not only is some flight attendants angry at both the content of the deal, but also the way they were forced to impose by Ottawa.
“They have a deal that they can’t effectively reject,” he said.
“We continue to maintain hope,” the airline says.
The flight attendant may actually refuse to trade.
When the vote began last week, the split surfaced about what the Canadian Civil Service Coalition (CUPE) called a “transformative” agreement.
The first year included a 12% wage increase for new hires, an 8% for more senior workers and a subsequent 3% increase.
The airline said it hopes its employees will support it.
“The agreement was achieved without concessions from the union and included improvements in wages, pensions and benefits,” an Air Canada spokesperson said in an email.
“We expect the agreement to be ratified, but that may not be acceptable.”
If it is rejected, only the wage clause will go to binding arbitration. Other issues are set on stones, and no strikes or lockouts are allowed.
“Because of the courage to walk the Pickett line, our members brought the company back to the table with better offers, except for wages,” Cupe spokesman Hugh Priott told Al Jazeera in an email.
“We respect the decisions made by our members.”
Cooper is among those voting, especially despite seeing the boost in pay for new hires.
The opening wage for trading is below Canadian dollars ($24.60) per hour ($4 salary increases).
“These people need to be free from poverty,” Cooper said. “I’ve heard that from my younger colleagues and I’m supporting them.”
“People are desperate and we’re rolling dice.”
Unpaid jobs
The main problem with flight attendants is many unpaid hours.
With a few exceptions, many say they often work for free, such as when helping passengers get on the plane, handling extra baggage, waiting for delayed flights, or helping them handle medical situations.
“The majority of people didn’t understand how we weren’t paid before boarding the aircraft, only from takeoff to landing,” said Reagan Goulding, a flight attendant for 30 years. “If the engine is not running and you’re parked, we’re not paid.
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
Under the new interim agreement, the airline will pay up to 60 minutes on the ground, but only pay at half the hour of wages.
“Previously, ground duties payments were an overall compensation component,” an Air Canada spokesperson said. “The new contract includes specific Canada-leading ground wage provisions.”
The federal Employment Minister says she is currently investigating her dependence on airlines’ unpaid jobs.
“The minister has begun an investigation into unpaid jobs in the airline sector,” spokesman Aissa Diop said in an email. “No one should work for free.”
Goulding predicts no votes from most of the colleagues she took.
“We provide a lot of services on the ground,” she said. “The whole tentative agreement doesn’t give us much. “We were ready to go out (on strikes). The union was all supportive and we had their backs.”
“It looked like he just gave up… there are many unfortunate people.”
Federal government “bias” claim
One point of attachment for Al Jazeera, the flight attendant we interviewed, was the way the strike was suppressed.
The Canadian Labor and Management Committee (CIRB) has issued a law that returns to work at the request of the Minister of Employment. This allows the Minister to intervene to “ensure industrial peace” by citing section 107 of the Canadian Labour Act.
The order was signed by Chairman Mary Trembre, who complained that Capte should be aside from adjudging their strike, claiming “reasonable arrest of bias.”
Tremblay was a senior in-house lawyer at Air Canada for seven years until 2004, and later represented the airline in 2022 at two law firms.
However, she “dismissed the bias claim,” and declared on August 22 that “previous experience alone is not enough.”
The agency declined to comment, saying, “The CIRB decision speaks for itself.”
“She worked for the company,” Goulding said. “It speaks for itself and the government did nothing about it.”
“Warning Bell”
King said that Section 107 of the Labor Law has been rarely used in favour of Congress’ back-to-back laws.
Last year, half a dozen have been used in federally regulated workplaces, including ports, mail, rail and aviation.
“The other unions complied and presented court assignments, but ended their strike,” King said. “This is the first time the union has said no.”
Since then, Cupe has sued Ottawa in Section 107, alleging violations of the charter protection rights of its members “define these important rights of negotiation against future attacks.”
He said this “amazing moment” in Canadian history suggests a post-pandemic pattern.
The rebellious attitude of flight attendants was short, but could serve as a “wake-up call” on the rise in labor claims, Cooper says.
“What happened in Air Canada could probably be a warning bell,” he said. “Tomorrow’s labor leaders will be desperate.
“All of a sudden, a Wildcat strike or a general strike may not seem so threatening.
For flight attendant Henry Laden, Vancouver local vice president of Cupe, whether yes or no, this week’s vote is a chance for her colleagues to finally speak out despite the voices being “breathed” by both employers and the government.
“Each of us will have the opportunity to assess the agreement on its merits and vote on whether to ratify it,” she wrote in a blog post that “there is no excessive pressure or influence.”
Cooper said he was proud of his colleague after standing on the ground.
“It was pretty fiery,” he recalled. “It was something I was proud of.”
