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Toronto “Almost 1,000 employees of Canadian Regional Airlines have said no to the possible sale of Canadian Regional Airlines. Petitions have been delivered to Konrad von Fickenstein Competition commissioner, the leaders of all the federal political parties, as well as Robert Milton, CEO of Air Canada,” said Denise Hill, president of the Airline Division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

“We started circulating these petitions only three weeks ago. The response has been incredible. Flight attendants along with other airline employees do not want to see Canadian Regional Airlines become another casualty in the restructuring of the airline industry,” added Hill.

The Standing Committee on Transport has concluded its review of Bill C-26 (legislation introduced with the merger of both the mainline carriers in Canada). “The committee will likely report to the House of Commons on May 15, we want to make sure that the elected Members of Parliament know what their constituents including the workers at Canadian Regional Airlines are thinking and feeling during this restructuring process,” explained Hill.

The Airline Division of CUPE maintains that the requirement for the sale of Canadian Regional Airlines must be deleted from Bill C-26. “There is no doubt that Canadian Regional Airlines must and should be part of the new Air Canada family. The merger of all the regional carriers only makes sense in terms of service to the public, and security for the employees of the airline,” Hill said.

“The flight attendants at Canadian Regional Airlines are the lowest paid in the Air Canada group. They have taken wage cuts for 4 years during the restructuring of Canadian Airlines. Now to imply that the sale of Canadian Regional Airlines will make Air Canada more competitive is at best short sighted and at worse will cause tremendous upheaval with regards to service to the public and terrible levels of insecurity for the employees of Canadian Regional Airlines,” concluded Hill.

For information please contact:
Denise Hill (416) 798-3399 ext. 227
or (416) 567-9901 cell
Catherine Louli, CUPE communications
(613) 237-1590 ext. 268