
Stagecoach North East bus strikes to resume as staff reject offer
Union members had previously voted to strike on 11 and 12 August, after workers rejected an initial offer of a 3.3% pay increase.But it was suspended after the company tabled an improved offer. However, the latest offer has been rejected, meaning the remaining strikes will resume.
Stagecoach said it would work to minimise the impact of the industrial action on its services.Mr Walker said the company's Newcastle drivers were "already the highest paid in the region" and further pay increases would see "additional costs passed on to customers"."Stagecoach buses are one of the most cost-effective, accessible and convenient ways to travel around the city, so this is something that we are absolutely keen to keep to a minimum," he said.
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Air Canada union says flight attendants will continue strike, airline delays restart plan
MONTREAL Aug 17 (Reuters) - Air Canada ( opens new tab flight attendants said on Sunday they would remain on strike despite a government-backed labor board's order to return to work by 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), calling the order unconstitutional. The Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a statement that members would remain on strike and invited Air Canada back to the table to "negotiate a fair deal." The airline said it would delay plans to restart operations from Sunday until Monday evening. On Saturday, the Canadian government under Prime Minister Mark Carney moved to end a strike by more than 10,000 flight attendants at the country's largest carrier by asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order binding arbitration. The CIRB issued the order, which Air Canada had sought, and unionized flight attendants opposed. The Canada Labour Code gives the government the power to ask the CIRB to impose binding arbitration in the interest of protecting the economy. The government, under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, intervened last year to head off rail and dock strikes that threatened to cripple the economy, but it is unusual for a union to defy a CIRB order. It was not immediately clear what options the government has if the union continues its strike. Air Canada had said it planned to resume flights on Sunday evening, following the expected end of the strike that caused the suspension of around 700 daily flights on Saturday, stranding more than 100,000 passengers. Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job on Saturday for the first time since 1985, after months of negotiations over a new contract. The union called a decision by the CIRB chair Maryse Tremblay to not recuse herself from handling the case a "staggering conflict of interest," since she had worked as a senior counsel for Air Canada in the past. According to Tremblay's LinkedIn profile, she served as Air Canada's counsel from 1998 to 2004. Air Canada, the CIRB, and a Canadian government spokesperson were not immediately available for comment. Other unions joined the flight attendants' picket line in solidarity in Toronto on Sunday. "They are in support here today because they are seeing our rights being eroded," said Natasha Stea, an Air Canada flight attendant and local union president. Air Canada had started cancelling flights on Thursday in anticipation of the stoppage. Travellers at Toronto Pearson International Airport said they were confused about whether their flights would resume or Air Canada would make alternative arrangements. "We are kind of left to figure it out for ourselves and fend for ourselves with no recourse or options provided by Air Canada at this time," said Elizabeth Fourney of Vancouver. The most contentious issue has been the union's demand for compensation for time spent on the ground between flights and when helping passengers board. Attendants are largely paid only when their plane is moving. CUPE had pushed for a negotiated solution, saying binding arbitration would take pressure off the airline. Air Canada said on Sunday that the CIRB had ordered the terms of the collective agreement between the union and the airline that expired on March 31 be extended until a new agreement can be reached.


BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Air Canada plans to restart services as union says attendants ‘remain on strike'
The union representing 10,000 striking Air Canada flight attendants has said it will challenge an order for them to return to work, adding 'we remain on strike'. The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered airline staff back by 2pm on Sunday after the government intervened and Air Canada said it planned to resume flights on Sunday evening. Advertisement 'We will be challenging this blatantly unconstitutional order,' the CUPE union said in a statement. A man tries to check in to his Air Canada flight at Vancouver International Airport (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP) 'We remain on strike. We demand a fair, negotiated contract and to be compensated for all hours worked.' The strike has stranded more than 100,000 travellers around the world during the peak summer travel season. The country's largest airline said early on Sunday that the first flights would resume later in the day but that it would take several days before its operations returned to normal. Advertisement It said some flights would be cancelled over the next seven to 10 days until the schedule was stabilised. People sleep under a flight information board at Vancouver International Airport (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP) Less than 12 hours after workers walked off the job, federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu ordered the 10,000 flight attendants back to work, saying now was not the time to take risks with the economy and noting the unprecedented tariffs the US had imposed on Canada. Ms Hajdu referred the work stoppage to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. The airline said the Canada Industrial Relations Board had extended the term of the existing collective agreement until a new one was determined by the arbitrator. Advertisement The shutdown of Canada's largest airline early on Saturday was impacting about 130,000 people a day. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day. An Air Canada agent, left, speaks to a man at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) According to numbers from aviation analytics provider Cirium, Air Canada had cancelled a total of 671 flights by Saturday afternoon — following 199 on Friday. A further 96 flights scheduled for Sunday were already suspended. The bitter contract fight escalated on Friday as the union turned down Air Canada's prior request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which allows a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. Advertisement Flight attendants walked off the job around 1am Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday. Around the same time, Air Canada said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports. Ms Hajdu said that her Liberal government was not anti-union, saying it was clear the two sides were at an impasse. Passengers whose flights were impacted would be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. Advertisement An empty Air Canada bag-drop area at Montreal–Trudeau International Airport (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. Still, it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines were already full 'due to the summer travel peak'. Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract talks for about eight months, but are yet to reach a tentative deal. Both sides have said they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes are not in the air. The airline's latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions, over four years, which it said 'would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada'. But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year did not go far enough because of inflation.


The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Air Canada flight attendants to defy back-to-work order and remain on strike
Air Canada's flight attendants plan to remain on strike, their union has said, defying government efforts to force them back to work and into binding arbitration over a dispute that has left more than 100,000 travellers stranded around the world during the peak summer travel season. About 10,000 flight attendants who work for Canada's largest airline walked out on the job early on Saturday amid an increasingly bitter dispute over what the union has described as 'poverty wages' and unpaid labour. Around the same time, Air Canada, which operates about 700 flights a day, said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports. Less than 12 hours later, the Canadian government said it had ordered an end to the work stoppage, leading Air Canada to announce plans to resume flying by Sunday evening. However, that timeline was thrown into question after the union told Reuters it would challenge the return-to-work order, which it described as unconstitutional. It was the latest twist in talks that have dragged on since March as the flight attendants seek to address the fact that they are not compensated for work carried out when planes are not in the air, whether it is time spent on the ground between flights and or helping passengers to board. On Saturday, Canada's federal jobs minister, Patty Hajdu, said it was clear the talks had reached an impasse and that the impact was being felt by Canadians and visitors across the country. 'The talks broke down,' said Hajdu as she told reporters that she had asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order an immediate end to the strike and to impose binding arbitration. 'It is clear that the parties are not any closer to resolving some of the key issues that remain and they will need help with the arbitrator.' She appeared to link her actions to the toll that US tariff increases had taken on the Canadian economy. 'In a year in which Canadian families and businesses have already experienced too much disruption and uncertainty, this is not the time to add additional challenges and disruptions to their lives and our economy,' she said in a statement. Hajdu's power to halt the strike stems from a section of the Canada Labour Code, which gives the minister unilateral authority to end work stoppages in order to 'maintain or secure industrial peace'. While the section was rarely used by previous governments, the Liberal government has invoked it several times in the past year, quelling strikes by workers at Canadian ports, the post office and railway companies, prompting analysts to voice concerns that the use of the clause may be undermining workers' rights. The union representing the flight attendants decried the Liberal government for stepping in within hours, accusing it of violating their right to take job action. Air Canada had reportedly previously requested that the government intervene to impose binding arbitration. Wesley Lesosky, of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said the government was giving 'Air Canada exactly what they want – hours and hours of unpaid labour from underpaid flight attendants, while the company pulls in sky-high profits and extraordinary executive compensation'. According to the aviation analytics firm Cirium, the airline had cancelled 671 flights by Saturday afternoon, leaving some travellers stranded overseas and others scrambling to find alternatives during the busy summer travel season. About 130,000 customers a day could be affected by a disruption, according to the airline. The airline said earlier it had offered its flight attendants 'an increase of more than 38% on global compensation', but the union said the figure failed to fully account for inflation. Air Canada also said it was willing to pay flight attendants 50% of their wage for work done before planes take off, leading the union to reply that its members should be fully compensated for their labour. About 70% of the airline's flight attendants are women, said Natasha Stea, a local union president and flight attendant. She questioned whether they were being treated fairly, given that Air Canada pilots, the vast majority of whom are men, received a significant raise last year. 'We are heartbroken for our passengers,' she told the Associated Press late last week. 'Nobody wants to see Canadians stranded or anxious about their travel plans, but we cannot work for free.'