MONTREAL — More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4092, voted 99.1% to reject a wage offer in a tentative contract, the union announced Sept. 6. The workers went on strike for three days last month, defying a government back-to-work order.
“We forced the company back to the table. It was so good that we had the support of the public. We have more unity than ever,” Kiyomi Takashi told the Militant as she marched in the flight attendants’ contingent at the Toronto Labour Day Parade Sept. 1.
The key issue in the strike was the bosses’ refusal to pay attendants for the work they perform before and after their flights depart and arrive.
The strike began Aug. 16. By 2 p.m. the federal government had invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code ordering flight attendants back to work and imposing binding arbitration.
But determined to fight and emboldened by widespread labor support, the flight attendants refused, keeping picket lines up across the country. This was the fourth time in a year the federal government used anti-labor laws to rule a strike illegal, having earlier sent tens of thousands of striking postal workers, port workers and rail workers back to work.
The refusal of the flight attendants to bend to the back-to-work order had an impact on workers across Canada.
“It was great to see workers sticking together like that,” Christian Berger, a longshore worker, told the Militant at the Port of Montreal Sept. 5.
“I’m glad the flight attendants rejected the offer after defying the government,” said Kim Scharley, a member of Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 350 in Montreal, one of the unions ordered back to work earlier this year. “The federal government sets the standards for others to follow,” he said. “The bar for workers’ rights is being lowered like never before. All workers are threatened. That’s why solidarity from the labor movement is crucial.”
Alexandre Jacob, a train conductor at Canadian National Railway and member of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Division 89, saluted the flight attendants for “defying an unjust ruling to return to work.” Teamsters rail workers were also recently ordered back to work by Ottawa.
Opposition to tentative deal
Under the tentative agreement, flight attendants were only allowed to vote on the section of the contract on wages. They were denied the right to vote on pay for all hours worked — not just when cabin doors are closed.
Starting immediately, crew members would be paid 50% of their hourly rate for 60 minutes of preflight duties on narrow-body aircraft and 70 minutes on wide-body aircraft — rising to 70% by 2028.
The deal stipulated that flight attendants will not face any disciplinary action for taking part in the strike, despite it being ruled illegal.
After workers rejected the wage offer, Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4092 issued a press release saying that even with the proposed increase, Air Canada flight attendants would still earn less than the federal minimum wage, which is 17.75 Canadian dollars an hour ($12.78) or CA$2,840 per month on a 40-hour workweek.
A full-time Air Canada Rouge flight attendant would earn just CA$2,219 per month, and a full-time mainline flight attendant only CA$2,522 per month.
Further talks between the union and the company on wages will now be held.
The flight attendants were determined to make substantial wage gains after having lived with a 10-year contract from 2015 to 2025 that offered wage increases of 2% per year for the life of the contract, well below the rate of inflation.
“We’ve been waiting 10 years to negotiate this,” Isabelle, a flight attendant who wanted to only give her first name, told the Militant at an Aug. 17 Montreal union rally during the strike. “In 2003 the company said they might go bankrupt, so we all gave them $10,000 and 10 paid holidays. They told us they would give it back when things got better. We still haven’t got it back.”
Struggles by flight attendants are being fought across North America. U.S. crews at United Airlines recently rejected a tentative agreement, citing the same frustration over unpaid ground work.