CUPE: Air Canada flight attendants reject Air Canada's wage offer

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge have voted 99.1% against ratifying the company's wage offer. Voter turnout was 99.4%.

Even with the proposed increase, Air Canada flight attendants would still earn less than federal minimum wage, which is $17.75 per hour or $2,840 per month on a 40-hour workweek. By contrast, a full-time Rouge flight attendant would earn just $2,219 per month, and a full-time mainline flight attendant would earn only $2,522 per month. Full-time workers at a flagship corporation and the national air carrier should not be earning less than minimum wage and qualifying for income supports.

Air Canada offered a year-one increase of 12% for Rouge flight attendants and mainline flight attendants with five years service or less, and an increase of 8% for mainline flight attendants with six years or more. The company offered annual increases of 3%, 2.5% and 2.75% in the remaining years of the proposed four-year contract.

It is impossible to ignore the corrosive role the federal government played in these negotiations. Rather than maintaining their neutrality, the federal government kept their thumb on the scale throughout the bargaining process and gave Air Canada the leverage they needed to suppress flight attendants' wages.

“Air Canada never bargained in good faith on wages,” said Wesley Lesosky, President of the Air Canada Component of CUPE. “By CEO Michael Rousseau's own admission, the company expected the federal government to intervene and take away the only leverage we had - our right to go on strike. Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu only waited 11 hours to prove the company right.”

The issue of wages will now proceed to mediation, and then arbitration if necessary. However, the larger issue of recognizing the vital safety role of flight attendants and compensating them for that work remains unresolved. Air Canada flight attendants were able to obtain partial pay for some of their ground duties in this round of bargaining, representing important progress in the fight to end unpaid work. This is only the beginning.