Flashback: When Air Canada flight attendants went on strike in 1985

CBC

7 hours ago

Boarding call
Air Canada's plan if flight attendants go on strike in 1985
6 days ago
A CBC report learns that in the event of a labour dispute, the airline plans to continue operations with new trainees to do the work of flight attendants.
On Tuesday, Air Canada and its 10,000 flight attendants reached a tentative agreement to end their contract dispute, both the airline and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced. According to a CBC timeline of labour strife at the airline since 1998, the dispute lasted for three days.
Forty years ago, when Air Canada faced another labour dispute with its 3,000 flight attendants, a CBC News report said the airline's plan was to hire replacement workers to keep flights operating.
"If there is a lockout, Air Canada wants to make sure no flights are cancelled, but there aren't enough management people to take over," correspondent Paul Moore said. "So the airline's been recruiting outsiders and, starting tomorrow, they'll train to be flight attendants." (The employees did strike and were off the job for six weeks.)
Fresh take
Oasis plays Maple Leaf Gardens in 1998
2 days ago
Next week, the British rock band Oasis is scheduled to play two Toronto concerts (in the venue Chris Martin of Coldplay called a " weird stadium in the middle of nowhere" in July) on a worldwide reunion tour — their first since splitting in 2009.
In 1998, when Oasis performed at an arena in downtown Toronto, CBC reporter John Northcott saw more than one parallel with another British group.
"Some argue they're the new Beatles based on their popularity. Others argue, in fact, they sound an awful lot like the Beatles," he said. "The concert, at Maple Leaf Gardens, sold out in hours. Hey, the Beatles played the Gardens as well."
Fair trade
Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition opened last week, and CBC News attended a preview of what's new this year. But on the midway, mainstays like the Polar Express, Scrambler and giant ferris wheel are back.
A roller-coaster called the Flyer was among the rides at the CNE for almost four decades, according to a 1992 CBC News report. But its allure had waned, and crews were about to dismantle it. Still, there was hope for lovers of old-time carnival attractions: a fair across the road with vintage midway rides and games.
"One of my hobbies is to try to preserve the carnival and carnival history," said its creator, Jim Conklin. "I'm just thrilled to pieces to be able to bring out some of this stuff that I've been collecting over the years." An obituary in the Brantford Expositor in 2023 said Conklin was " a legend in the carnival and midway world."
Out of a pickle
" Bick's pickles no longer stocked at some Canadian retailers," reads a recent CBC News headline. In 1961, Walter Bick spoke to CBC Radio's Assignment about how his father turned to an "old family recipe" to provide the solution to a surplus of cucumbers on the Bick farm in Scarborough, Ont.
Whisky-ish
Bartenders in Ontario are turning to bourbon alternatives since the LCBO pulled American spirits off store shelves, according to a recent CBC News story. We wonder, Would they try a cheaper substitute that doesn't require aging, like the one CBC News learned about in 1985?
Bubble tea
The CBC's Peter Armstrong reported last week that the stock market is riding high on the strength of AI, but some investors worry it's a repeat of the dot-com bubble in the 1990s. In a 1999 report by CBC News, an observer used the word "frenzy" to describe the vogue for internet stocks.
Another Friday
From New York, the actor talks to host Brent Bambury. Aired Aug. 1, 1994 on CBC's Midday.