Latest news with #laborstrike
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Air Canada flight attendants on strike
Vancouver Watch More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants are officially on strike, resulting in mass flight disruptions in Vancouver and beyond.
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Air Canada flight attendants walk off job, picket lines set up at airports
TORONTO/OTTAWA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Air Canada ( opens new tab employees formed picket lines outside major Canadian airports on Saturday, hours after unionized flight attendants walked off the job in a contract dispute that has disrupted travel for tens of thousands of passengers. The strike, which started just before 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT), had forced Canada's largest airline to suspend the majority of its 700 daily flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers who were forced to find alternative flights or stay put. As of Saturday morning, there were no bargaining sessions scheduled between the two sides, which have held on-and-off negotiations for months. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, representing more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, confirmed the stoppage in a social media post. It is the first strike by Air Canada flight attendants since 1985. Outside Toronto Pearson International Airport - the country's busiest - hundreds of cabin crew waved flags, banners and picket signs. Union officials called on members to assemble outside all of the country's major airports, including in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. Montreal-based Air Canada said the suspended flights included those operated by its budget arm, Air Canada Rouge. The stoppage would affect about 130,000 customers a day, the carrier said in a statement. Flights by Air Canada's regional affiliates - Air Canada Jazz and PAL Airlines - will operate as usual. "Air Canada is strongly advising affected customers not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed ticket on an airline other than Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge," the airline said. The dispute between the union and the airline centers on wages. Attendants are currently paid only when their plane is moving. The union is seeking compensation for time spent on the ground between flights and when helping passengers board. The union has said Air Canada offered to compensate flight attendants for some work that is now unpaid but only at 50% of their hourly rate. The carrier had offered a 38% increase in total compensation for flight attendants over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year, which the union said was insufficient. The impact of a strike will ripple far beyond Canada. Air Canada is the busiest foreign carrier servicing the U.S. by number of scheduled flights. While passengers have generally voiced support for the flight attendants on social media, Canadian businesses - already reeling from a trade dispute with the U.S. - have urged the federal government to impose binding arbitration on both sides, ending the strike. The Canada Labour Code gives Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu the right to ask the country's Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration in the interests of protecting the economy. Air Canada has asked Prime Minister Mark Carney's minority Liberal government to act, but the union says it wants a negotiated solution, as binding arbitration would take pressure off the airline. Hajdu has repeatedly urged the two sides to return to the bargaining table. In a note to clients, analysts at financial services firm TD Cowen urged the carrier to "extend an olive branch to end the impasse," adding that investors are worried that any cost savings on labor would be outweighed by lost earnings in the airline's most important quarter. "We think it would be best for AC to achieve labor peace," the note said. "Not budging on negotiations risks being a Pyrrhic victory."
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Marooned by Air Canada flight attendant strike? Here are your options
You were planning to catch a flight and the dreaded text pops up on your phone: your flight has been cancelled. Now what? More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants are off the job after a strike deadline passed Saturday without a deal. The airline had already cancelled 500 flights on Friday in anticipation of the full stoppage and all flights will be halted during the work stoppage. Air Canada has said that, in the event of a strike, it would try and book customers on another flight, including those operated by other carriers. "However, available capacity on our airline and on other carriers is limited due to the summer travel peak, meaning the possibility of rebooking you within an acceptable time frame is low," Air Canada said in an online notice Friday. "If your travel is disrupted, you can always choose a refund." Before the stoppage, Air Canada had offered free flight changes to customers booked between Aug. 15 and 18 and travel credits for any unused non-refundable fares. Personal finance and travel expert Barry Choi had planned to travel home from Europe next week on Air Canada. He said he's confident a deal will be worked out before his return trip on Aug. 22, but he came up with a contingency plan anyway. "I personally booked a backup flight just in case, in the worst, worst case scenario," he said from Rotterdam, Netherlands. Choi said he did so because he had the luxury of ample loyalty rewards to afford a transatlantic flight much pricier than the one he initially booked. Getting back was also time sensitive — his wife has tickets to an Oasis concert back home two days after their scheduled arrival. If not for that, they may have stayed longer. "I know not everyone has that luxury, but just having a backup plan is good to know, even if you don't want to book that flight right away," said Choi. Doing some research and finding three or four backup flight options with Air Canada partners is a good idea when you're finally able to get on the line with an agent. "The more information you can provide the agents when you get hold of them, the better your odds. So always just be prepared," said Choi, advising anyone with travel booked further out into September to just sit tight for now. He adds that travellers should look into the details of their credit card travel insurance "inside out" right away to find out what expenses are covered, and what aren't, if it takes a few days to line up a flight home. Choi recalls being taken aback a few years ago when he booked a hotel stay to cover a flight delay only to find out after he made the claim that his insurance only covered $100 a night. It's also worth looking into whether a policy will cover travel to an alternative airport — taking a train to fly out of Edinburgh, Scotland, back to Canada instead of London Heathrow, for example. "Just knowing what you're entitled to, keeping those receipts and making a submission in time will greatly help you reduce your costs overall." Lesley Keyter, founder and CEO of Calgary travel agency The Travel Lady, said insurance may cover disruptions due to labour action, provided it wasn't a "known event" when the policy was purchased. "If you're thinking now, 'Oh, next week I want to go somewhere and I'll just take out travel insurance and that will cover me,' that won't happen," she said. Keyter also cautions that any reimbursements for extended stays won't arrive quickly. "It's going to take a while for that to go through the whole machinery, so you have to have that cash on you to be able to afford those extra costs in-destination." For those with flights connecting to a cruise or tour, it could get tricky. It's fairly straightforward if the airfare was booked through a cruise line. Not so when they're booked separately. "If you just booked an air ticket yourself with Air Canada flying across to Rome and then maybe you're jumping on a cruise ship, that's two completely separate tickets and the cruise line does not care about Air Canada having the strike," said Keyter. "If you're going on a cruise or a tour or there's an occasion, a date that has to be stuck to, get there a day or so earlier so it gives you a little bit of wiggle room in case things like this happen." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2025. Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
What to know if your Air Canada flight gets canceled
Summer travelers are facing uncertainty as the clock winds down on a possible strike by Air Canada flight attendants, which the airline said would force it to cancel almost all of its scheduled flights as soon as Saturday. The Canadian carrier on Thursday began what it described as a 'phased wind down' of most operations that included multiple flight cancellations. Air Canada said it was suspending its schedule and trying to get passengers booked with other airlines to limit disruptions if members of its cabin crews walk off the job. Both the union that represents about 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants and the airline say disagreements over key issues, including pay raises, have brought contract talks to a standstill. A complete shutdown of the country's largest airline threatens to impact about 130,000 people a day. Here's what to know about the rights of passengers and airline consumer protections: Impacted passengers will be notified Air Canada said it would reach out via email or text to let customers know if their flights are canceled. The cancellations on Thursday included some long-haul overseas flights. By the end of Friday, the airline expects to cancel 500 flights. Flight attendants are threatening to strike at 1 a.m. ET Saturday if they don't have a new contract by then. If the walkout happens, the airline said it would suspend all of its Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights, but not the regional Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz Aviation and PAL Airlines. How long the airline's planes will be grounded remains to be seen. Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr said the decision to lock out the union members even if it meant halting flights would help facilitate an orderly restart, 'which under the best circumstances will take a full week to complete.' A complete grounding would affect 25,000 Canadians a day who traveled abroad and may become stranded. You have options if your flight is canceled Passengers whose travel is impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. But it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full 'due to the summer travel peak.' Passengers with the flexibility to reschedule their travel plans can also rebook their flights for dates between Aug. 21 and Sept. 12 at no additional cost, Air Canada said. The airline says that under federal regulations, flight cancellations caused by a strike or lockout are considered outside the carrier's control, meaning customers are not eligible for compensation for food and lodging expenses incurred during the labor dispute. Most of the union voted to strike Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal. By the end of July, the union put it to a vote, and 99.7% approved a strike. The union on Wednesday gave Air Canada a 72-hour strike notice. The airline responded with a so-called lockout notice, saying it would prevent the flight attendants from working on Saturday. The union said it rejected a proposal from the airline to enter a binding arbitration process that would have prevented flight attendants from walking off the job, saying it prefers to negotiate a deal that its members can then vote on. Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada's head of human resources, said the company was weighing all of its options, including asking for government intervention. Negotiations break down over pay Both the union and the airline say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren't in the air. The airline said its latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years. But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year didn't go far enough because of inflation. Vancouver-based flight attendant Henly Larden, who has worked for Air Canada since 2017, said the union also won't back down on its goal to get flight attendants paid for the time they're on the ground. Larden, 33, called it a "very archaic expectation' to work for free during the boarding process. 'Just because it's a past practice doesn't mean here in 2025 that it's OK or it's right, and we want to change that going forward,' she said.
CBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Protesters disrupt Air Canada news conference
Air Canada has started to suspend flights ahead of a potential flight attendants' strike that could start as early as Saturday.
