Air Canada, flight attendants resume talks as days-old strike continues

4 days ago 9

Toronto — Air Canada and the national representing 10,000 formation attendants resumed talks precocious Monday for the archetypal clip since a onslaught by the formation attendants began implicit the weekend. The walkout affecting astir 130,000 travelers a time astatine the highest of the summertime question season.

It was the archetypal clip the 2 sides talked since aboriginal Saturday oregon precocious Friday. In an update to its members, the national said the hose reached retired and the gathering occurred with the assistance of a mediator successful Toronto.

It followed the union's declaration that the formation attendants won't instrumentality to enactment adjacent though the strike, present successful its 3rd day, has been declared illegal.

Earlier, Air Canada said rolling cancellations would present widen to Tuesday day aft the national defied a 2nd return-to-work order. The country's biggest hose had said earlier that operations would resume Monday evening but the national president said that won't happen.

"We volition not beryllium returning to the skies," said Mark Hancock, nationalist president for Canadian Union of Public Employees, oregon CUPE, which besides represents immoderate non-public sectors.

Air Canada formation attendants proceed to protestation aft the Canada Industrial Relations Board declared the onslaught by the company's 10,000 formation attendants amerciable and has ordered the union's enactment to nonstop its members to instrumentality to work.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board had declared the onslaught amerciable Monday and ordered the formation attendants backmost connected the job. But the national said it would defy the directive. Union leaders besides ignored a play bid to taxable to binding arbitration and extremity the onslaught by Sunday afternoon.

The board, an autarkic administrative tribunal that interprets and applies Canada's labour laws, had said the national needed to supply written announcement to each of its members by noon Monday that they indispensable resume their duties.

Asked connected Monday what repercussions the national was consenting to look for its defiance of the labour board's instrumentality to works orders, Hancock said, "There's nary limit. We're going to enactment strong."

"If it means folks similar maine going to jail, past truthful beryllium it. If it means our national being fined, past truthful beryllium it," Hancock said. "We're looking for a solution here. Our members privation a solution here, but solution has to beryllium recovered astatine the bargaining table."

It wasn't instantly wide what recourse the committee oregon the authorities person if the national continues to refuse.

Labor leaders are objecting to the Canadian government's repeated usage of a instrumentality that cuts disconnected workers' close to onslaught and forces them into arbitration, a measurement the authorities took successful caller years with workers astatine ports, railways and elsewhere.

"We are successful a concern wherever virtually hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our state are being disrupted by this action," Prime Minister Mark Carney said. "I impulse some parties to resoluteness this arsenic rapidly arsenic possible."

Carney stressed it was important that formation attendants were compensated reasonably astatine each times.

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said the national authorities is launching a probe into the unions' allegations that formation attendants are not paid for enactment they bash portion airplanes are connected the ground, and is considering introducing authorities to code the issue.

Air Canada operates astir 700 flights per day. The hose estimated Monday that 500,000 customers would beryllium affected by formation cancellations.

Aviation analytics steadfast Cirium said that arsenic of Monday afternoon, Air Canada had called disconnected astatine slightest 1,219 home flights and 1,339 planetary flights since past Thursday, erstwhile the bearer began gradually suspending its operations up of the onslaught and lockout.

Air Canada main enforcement Michael Rousseau said helium inactive was looking for a speedy resolution.

"We're evidently hoping we tin spell tomorrow, but we'll marque that determination aboriginal today," Rousseau said connected BNN Bloomberg soon aft the national announced it would proceed with the strike.

Montreal nonmigratory Robert Brzymowski has been stranded successful Prague on with his woman and their 2 children since Saturday, erstwhile Air Canada canceled their formation location from what was meant to beryllium a two-week abrogation visiting relatives.

Brzymowski, who consults businesses connected energy-efficient practices, said helium was acceptable to commencement a caller occupation Monday but mislaid retired connected the declaration due to the fact that helium wasn't backmost successful Montreal successful time.

"I wasn't readying connected losing my occupation implicit vacation," helium said.

Frustrated by what helium described arsenic a deficiency of connection from the airline, Brzymowski said helium went to the airdrome successful Prague connected Monday greeting and was capable to get the hose to publication them a caller formation connected Aug. 25 - much than a week aft their archetypal flight.

He said his children volition besides miss the archetypal time of the caller schoolhouse year, and his woman won't get paid for the week due to the fact that she utilized the past of her paid clip disconnected for the twelvemonth for this trip.

"I, for one, volition ne'er alert Air Canada again," Brzymowski said. "I'll instrumentality a vessel if I person to."

Flight attendants walked disconnected the occupation aboriginal Saturday aft turning down the airline's petition to participate into government-directed arbitration, which allows a third-party mediator to determine the presumption of a caller contract.

Air Canada and CUPE person been successful declaration talks for astir 8 months but stay acold isolated connected the contented of wage and the unpaid enactment that formation attendants bash erstwhile planes aren't successful the air.

The airline's latest connection included a 38% summation successful full compensation, including benefits and pensions, implicit 4 years that it said "would person made our formation attendants the champion compensated successful Canada."

But the national pushed back, saying the projected 8% rise successful the archetypal twelvemonth didn't spell acold capable due to the fact that of inflation.

Passengers whose flights are impacted volition beryllium eligible to petition a afloat refund connected the airline's website oregon mobile app, according to Air Canada.