-

CUPE: Air Canada is Reinforcing the Gender Wage Gap – And They Want the Government to Help Them Do It

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Air Canada wants to reinforce the gender wage gap by forcing Air Canada flight attendants – 70% of whom identify as women – to accept a wage offer less than one-third what Air Canada offered its pilots less than a year ago.

“Air Canada’s male-dominated workforce received a significant cost-of-living wage increase. Why not the flight attendants, who are 70% women?” said Natasha Stea, President of CUPE 4091 representing Air Canada flight attendants based in Montreal.

In 2024, Air Canada gave pilots – a male-dominated profession – a 26% wage increase in year one of their new contract.

However, in 2025, Air Canada is offering flight attendants just 8% in year one of their new contract, and just a 17.2% wage increase overall over the life of a four-year deal.

Air Canada gave pilots a better wage increase in on year than flight attendants will get over the entire life of their four-year contract if Air Canada gets its way.

Now, Air Canada has threatened to lock out Air Canada flight attendants, calling flight attendant wage proposals “exorbitant” – and they want Employment Minister Patty Hajdu to impose a deal on flight attendants through forced arbitration.

Since 2015, compensation growth for female-dominated occupations in the airline industry has fallen flat while wages and compensation for pilots and maintenance personnel have increased by 31% and 14%. Air Canada wants the federal government to help them keep the trend alive. 

Contacts

Hugh Pouliot
CUPE Media Relations
613-818-0067
hpouliot@cupe.ca

Industry:

Canadian Union of Public Employees

Release Versions
EnglishFrench

Contacts

Hugh Pouliot
CUPE Media Relations
613-818-0067
hpouliot@cupe.ca

More News From Canadian Union of Public Employees

Vanderhoof Municipal Workers Vote Overwhelmingly in Favour of Strike Action

VANDERHOOF, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CUPE 1632 members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action following months of uncertainty after Mayor and Council declined to ratify an agreement that had been reached at the bargaining table. “Workers believed a fair agreement had been reached through negotiations,” said Dan Middleton, President of CUPE Local 1632. “After months of delays, our members are asking the employer to honour that agreement and provide some certainty for work...

Union: “Same offer… same response: no.”

HALIFAX, NS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After returning to the table for the second time since this strike began, negotiations have broken off. After Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) presented an amended offer, lowering the previous proposal by millions of dollars, representatives of the government and employer once again presented a recycled version of the same deal they’ve been tabling since last August. “The message that government is sending us, sending the thousands of striking workers we r...

Long term care workers in seventh week of strike headed back to bargaining table

HALIFAX, NS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Long term care workers are set to return to the table later today with representatives of the employers and government, and the assistance of the Chief Conciliation Officer. “We agreed to go back to the table in the hopes that, this time, the government will come with an offer that brings all long term care workers closer to a living wage instead of the same tired deal they’ve been presenting over and over, both at the table and in the media,” said Long Term and Co...
Back to Newsroom