After three days of picketing, the Air Canada flight attendants’ strike is (almost) over.
What happened: The union representing the workers reached a tentative labour deal with the airline, coming after nine hours of negotiations involving a federally appointed mediator.
- Air Canada resumed 15% to 20% of its 700 daily flights yesterday afternoon, but just a heads-up, it will still take up to 10 days for schedules to be fully running again.
- In the meantime, if your flight was cancelled, you can try and join one of the two Québec class-action lawsuits accusing the airline of passenger protection violations.
Why it matters: While exact details haven’t yet been divulged, Air Canada and the union confirmed the deal includes compensation for work done while planes are on the ground. Ground pay, which flight attendants historically haven’t received, was a major sticking point.
- If the deal is accepted by the union workers, it could set a precedent for ground pay becoming the norm that other Canadian airlines will have to provide in future deals.
Big picture: The result also left the federal government with egg on its face. As it’s done several times in the past year, Ottawa tried to use a special Labour Code clause to force the workers back to work, a trend that’s received heavy criticism. This time, the gambit failed as the union ignored the order, which could embolden future strikes to do the same.—QH