Air Canada Declares an Impasse in CUPE Negotiations

Air Canada says that negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees — representing 10,000 Flight Attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge — have reached an impasse.

The parties will be in a position to issue a statutory 72-hour strike or lockout notice at 12:01 am Eastern Time August 13, shutting down the airline as early as August 16.

The airline said that it “now believes the talks are at an impasse, after the union submitted a counteroffer seeking exorbitant increases, beyond those presented in earlier submissions, and today rejected an offer by the company to enter binding, third-party arbitration.”

Air Canada notes that the arbitration process proposed would protect the interests of the parties by having them agree on an independent arbitrator who would impartially take into account the parties’ positions to arrive at a new, balanced contract by which both would abide.

Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer and Public Affairs at Air Canada, said: “Air Canada has been negotiating with CUPE for eight months and although we have settled many items, none of which required concessions, we remain far apart on key issues. We are disappointed our proposal to resolve the outstanding items fairly through arbitration has been rejected by the union and it is instead insisting on unsustainable wage increases.”

Meloul-Wechsler continued: “We are now at an impasse in talks, with the union in a position to issue a strike notice at midnight tonight, creating tremendous uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of travellers and companies shipping critical, time-sensitive goods.”

And she made it clear that: “Air Canada is now looking at all remaining options, including a request for government-directed arbitration, to prevent a disruption or at least remove this intolerable uncertainty for our customers.”

The airline said that it remains available to negotiate with the union, but time is running short, a situation exacerbated by the fact that CUPE refused to negotiate for ten precious days while it sought a strike mandate.

It also said that in the event of a disruption, Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz or PAL Airlines will continue to operate as normal as their services are provided by third-party companies. However, these regional partners only carry about 20 per cent of Air Canada’s daily customers. Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge carry approximately 130,000 customers a day who could be affected by a disruption, this includes the 25,000 Canadians that the airline flies home from abroad each day, who could be stranded.

The airline said that it tabled a revised comprehensive settlement to the union on August 11 that provided for a 38% total compensation increase over four years, with 25% in the first year and sought no concessions from the union in return. The offer also addressed the issue of ground pay, improved pensions and benefits, increased crew rest and contained other improvements, including those to enhance work-life balance.

The comprehensive contract settlement proposal from Air Canada would make its Flight Attendants the best compensated in Canada. Air Canada Flight Attendant compensation and perquisites consist of several elements, including base pay, incentive awards, a pension plan, health benefits, bankable sick days, and paid vacation.

Go to www.aircanada.com for more.