Air Canada flight attendants have reached a tentative agreement with the airline to end a strike that disrupted travel for an estimated half a million passengers worldwide.
Around 10,000 attendants walked off the job shortly after midnight on Saturday, demanding higher wages and compensation for unpaid ground duties, including time spent boarding passengers. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the attendants, defied two tribunal orders to return to work, forcing Air Canada to abandon plans to partially restore services.
Talks resumed on Monday evening, and by nightfall the union confirmed a potential deal had been reached. “The strike has ended. We have a tentative agreement we will bring forward to you,” CUPE’s Air Canada branch said in a statement, adding that members were required to cooperate fully in the resumption of operations.
Air Canada speaks
Air Canada said services would gradually restart following mediation by William Kaplan, with the first flights scheduled for Tuesday evening. The airline cautioned, however, that it could take seven to ten days before operations return to normal. “Restarting a major carrier like Air Canada is a complex undertaking. Full restoration may require a week or more,” president Michael Rousseau said.
Neither the union nor the airline disclosed details of the proposed agreement. CUPE described the deal as delivering “transformational change for our industry after a historic fight”, declaring that “unpaid work is over” in reference to its long-standing demand for attendants to be compensated for time on the ground as well as in the air.
“When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on,” the union said.
Air Canada said it would not comment further until the ratification process was complete. CUPE has yet to confirm when a vote will be held.
Read Also: https://newdailyprime.news/world-news/canada-halts-air-flight-attendants-strike/
