Air Canada changes schedules for possible strike

CBC News

Air Canada says it is making schedule changes in the event of a possible strike by its unionized flight attendants.

The airline said Tuesday that some regularly scheduled Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz on Sept. 21 are being redeployed. Affected customers will be notified by the company or their travel agents, Air Canada said.

The airline's 6,800 unionized flight attendants have threatened to walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday morning if a new contract can't reached. The key issues in the negotations include wages, pensions, crew rest and working conditions.

"We are fully committed to reaching a negotiated agreement with CUPE prior to their strike deadline and our preference is to do so without government intervention through back-to-work legislation," said Duncan Dee, executive vice-president and chief operating officer.

"However, at this stage we have no choice but to start modifying our schedule to better implement a contingency schedule for Sept. 21 if required," Dee said.

Travellers on Air Canada who are scheduled to fly over the next six days can change their flight dates free of charge.

Air Canada said its mainline flights are not currently affected by its contingency planning.

CUPE national president Paul Moist said the union doesn't want to inconvenience Air Canada passengers with a labour disruption, adding that "it's an inconvenience for Air Canada workers to be working at wages they earned prior to 2004."

Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said Tuesday that she expects Air Canada and the flight attendants to reach a new collective agreement.

"It’s in their hands to reach a deal," Raitt told CBC. "They have indicated they’re able to reach a deal so that’s my expectation."

Negotiations broke off late Monday without an agreement, but the airline and union said the talks were to resume Tuesday afternoon.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees said they abruptly ended when a spokesperson for Air Canada used an expletive to describe the efforts of the federal mediator and the union representative. The union said it hoped to start talks "on a better foot" on Tuesday.

Raitt said the two sides have been negotiating around the clock since Sunday morning, and that they indicated they were close to deal when they met with her Monday evening.

"I understand fully that people are tired after midnight and needed to take a break from the table, but also expect that they’ll go back to the table today and they’ll conclude their deal," Raitt said.

Union members staged rallies on Parliament Hill and at other locations across the country to show support for their contract demands.

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