THUNDER BAY – By later this week, Air Canada could be facing strike action as the flight attendants will be in a legal strike position as of midnight on Wednesday the 21st of September. The union, CUPE states that “After five days of hard bargaining, the position of the employer remains unacceptable to the union. On Saturday evening, union representatives provided the employer with a comprehensive offer. At this point in time, the union is waiting for the response from the employer”.
The airline reports on its website, “Air Canada has received a strike notice from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the airline’s 6,800 flight attendants, confirming the union’s intention to begin a strike at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, September 21, 2011.
“Talks between the parties are ongoing and will continue prior to the strike deadline, assisted by federally-appointed mediators. However; in recognition of the uncertainty for customers this situation may cause, Air Canada has introduced a flexible rebooking policy to enable customers booked for travel over the next six days on a rolling window basis (September 16-21, 17-22, etc.) to change flights free of charge to a later date until December 9, 2011, subject to seat availability”.
Flight attendants have been without a contract since March 31, 2011. 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.
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