The union representing Air Canada’s 10,000 flight attendants, has rejected a proposal from the airline to move to binding arbitration.
In a letter to Wesley Lesosky, President of the Air Canada Component of CUPE, the airline’s VP, Chief Human Resources writes that, “After 8 months of negotiation, we have been unable to reach a tentative collective agreement despite our best efforts and those of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service”, and “engaging in interest arbitration will let the flight attendants, CUPE, Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge move forward without further delay and uncertainty, both of which weight on us all.”
In response to the proposal, CUPE’s bargaining committee responded they “respectfully decline the proposal to proceed to binding interest arbitration at this time. Instead, we urge Air Canada to continue bargaining at the table with a view to making meaningful progress toward an agreement that reflects the hard work, dedication, and professionalism of our flight attendants.”
The flight attendants can announce their intention to take strike action tomorrow morning at 12:01am, ET. They’re eligible to strike Saturday at 12:01 am ET.
