Air Canada flight attendants creating a wave east to west/Negotiations at Air Canada: No deal yet
September 20, 2011
MONTREAL -Sep 19– Less than 24 hours before a possible strike, the Air Canada flight attendants will rally in solidarity across the country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, this Tuesday September 20.
Rallies will be held in seven different locations, all at 10 a.m. local time: Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver. Flight attendants members of the Air Canada Component of CUPE will be present, with purple banners, flags and ribbons.
Purple is a symbol of unity and solidarity among members of the union, representing the merger – in 2000 – of Air Canada (red) and Canadian Airlines (Blue).
Negotiations at Air Canada: No deal yet
After intense rounds of negotiations that began early Sunday afternoon and ended late Monday night, both union and management have walked away from the bargaining table without a deal.
The marathon talks between parties ended after the spokesperson for Air Canada insulted the federal mediator and the union representative by describing their efforts as “bullshit”. Discussions were halted after the incident. The union hopes to start talks on a better foot as early as Tuesday morning.
Flight attendants will hold rallies in cities across the country in support of their cause tomorrow, starting at 10 a.m.
Flight attendants have been without a contract since March 31, 2011. Flight attendants will be in a legal strike position starting at one minute past midnight on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, unless a deal is reached before then.
In August, the flight attendants rejected a tentative agreement by 87.8 per cent. They later voted 98 per cent in favour of a strike mandate.
The Air Canada flight attendants are emergency specialists whose primary role is to ensure safety of over 100,000 passengers who travel each day in Canada and around the world.
In total, CUPE represents nearly 9,500 members in air transport, including Air Transat, Calm Air, Air Canada, Canadian North, CanJet Airlines, Cathay Pacific, First Air and Porter.
CUPE is the largest union in Canada with over 610,000 members working in health care, education, municipalities, libraries, universities, social services, public services, urban and air transport, emergency services and communications.
For more information:
Pierre Ducasse
CUPE Media Relations
613-852-1494
pducasse@cupe.ca