MONTREAL – After more than five months of negotiations, the union representing Air Canada flight attendants (CUPE) has served notice of their intention to strike. 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.
“The strike notification was given to the mediator this evening,” says Jeff Taylor, president of the Air Canada Component of CUPE, which represents the 6,800 flight attendants. “Negotiations are ongoing and we still hope to come to an agreement with Air Canada.”
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.
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