Air Canada Strike -Does Mark Carney have "power"?

[August1991]

I remember such situations in the past.

Let's see. 

[ExFlyer]

The threat worked..... the union caved.

Strike over.

[LinkSoul60]

Damn liberal government....

 

CUPE, which represents more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, said that after nine hours of talks with the assistance of the chief mediator appointed by the federal government, the deal struck will be presented to its membership, who will have an opportunity to ratify it.

 

[blackbird]

Some should go to jail for massive law breaking.  Caused massive inconvenience and delays and much expense to thousands of travelers for extra hotels, taxis, and meals.  We are either a country of laws or not.

[ExFlyer]

6 minutes ago, LinkSoul60 said:

Damn liberal government....

 

CUPE, which represents more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, said that after nine hours of talks with the assistance of the chief mediator appointed by the federal government, the deal struck will be presented to its membership, who will have an opportunity to ratify it.

 

So, the union accepted a mediator after all the talk that they would not?

That was what the government said to to last Friday.

F'n unions...disrupted thousands of travellers for what? Prove a point and accept anyway??

[LinkSoul60]

1 minute ago, ExFlyer said:

So, the union accepted a mediator after all the talk that they would not?

That was what the government said to to last Friday.

F'n unions...disrupted thousands of travellers for what? Prove a point and accept anyway??

Yep...  it wasn't binding arbitration but appears the federally appointed mediator helped them get across the finish line.  Well done Hadju...

Travel is disrupted, and so is the pocket books of a lot of people...  2 f*cking days when this could have/should have been resolved before walking out.

 

[LinkSoul60]

12 minutes ago, blackbird said:

Some should go to jail for massive law breaking.  Caused massive inconvenience and delays and much expense to thousands of travelers for extra hotels, taxis, and meals.  We are either a country of laws or not.

Agree 100%....  I sure hope there are penalties for defying the back to work order.  It's cost my wife and friends ~$3k but they had insurance through a tour group they'll get back.  A whole lot of people are in different situations and what's out of their pockets isn't being reimbursed.  Fine the unions *ss!

[WestCanMan]

He would have to have respect to have power, and he has zero respect.

He's arguably worse than Trudeau already, and Trudeau had 10 years to sink that far.

TBH though, Carney did have a head start on Trudeau, because Canada actually was a respectable country in 2015, and we were already seated at the kiddie table by the time he was appointed PM. 

[herbie]

6 hours ago, blackbird said:

Some should go to jail for massive law breaking.  Caused massive inconvenience and delays and much expense to thousands of travelers for extra hotels, taxis, and meals.  We are either a country of laws or not.

One of which is the right to strike.

7 hours ago, ExFlyer said:

The threat worked..... the union caved.

An interesting opinion, as you haven't seen the terms of the offer. I highly doubt it is the same offer or worse. Recommending a better offer is anything but caving in.

[LinkSoul60]

5 minutes ago, herbie said:

One of which is the right to strike.

Not when you're characterized as an essential service and ordered back to work by the CIRB

[ExFlyer]

15 minutes ago, herbie said:

One of which is the right to strike.

An interesting opinion, as you haven't seen the terms of the offer. I highly doubt it is the same offer or worse. Recommending a better offer is anything but caving in.

They did have the right to strike and they did. They were ordered back under section 107 and they did not.

Correct, I have not seen the offer. We also do not know what the hold up was as Air Canada said they would pay for the "non pay:" hours but only pay min wage. So, as of now, no one except union bosses know what the hold up was, even the flight attendants.

Edited August 19, 2025 by ExFlyer

[LinkSoul60]

Just now, ExFlyer said:

The did have the right to strike and they did. They were ordered back under section 107 and they did not.

Correct, I have not seen the offer. We also do not know what the hold up was as Air Canada said they would pay for the "non pay:" hours but only pay min wage. So, as of now, no one except union bosses know what the hold up was, even the flight attendants.

Interested to see how this plays out...  both the terms of agreement and Hadju launching investigation into the unions claim of working with no pay.  In the meanwhile there a lot of people out a lot of money and convenience because of this. 

[ExFlyer]

34 minutes ago, LinkSoul60 said:

Interested to see how this plays out...  both the terms of agreement and Hadju launching investigation into the unions claim of working with no pay.  In the meanwhile there a lot of people out a lot of money and convenience because of this. 

The working with no pay is a known. Most flight attendants are like that. No pay till the doors are closed and the aircraft is moving.

For sure there were thousands that were in a difficult position. I have close friends that were coming back from Paris, flights cancelled, 2 more days of hotel and expenses and no reimbursement and an incredible amount for a one way ticket.  

[CdnFox]

7 hours ago, blackbird said:

Some should go to jail for massive law breaking.  Caused massive inconvenience and delays and much expense to thousands of travelers for extra hotels, taxis, and meals.  We are either a country of laws or not.

Just pretend the guy was an illegal migrant, you'll be fine. 

[LinkSoul60]

1 minute ago, ExFlyer said:

The working with no pay is a known. Most flight attendants are like that. No pay till the doors are closed and the aircraft is moving.

For sure there were thousands that were in a difficult position. I have close friends that were coming back from Paris, flights cancelled, 2 more days of hotel and expenses and no reimbursement and an incredible amount for a one way ticket.  

I understand the pay when doors are closed that I gather is industry practice but haven't dove into enough.  Interested to see what comes of this, which could change the airline attendant industry if it does.

That sucks....  My wife and friends have been in Scotland and Ireland for 2 weeks and couldn't get out of Dublin on AC so booked Delta back through Minneapolis to YVR right now. They bought insurance through tour group they went with that she said will be covered?  It's only 2 days of strike but the cost and inconvenience is staggering, and they won't be back to full operations for another 7 - 10 days.  

[TreeBeard]

Air Canada couldn’t offer this before the strike?  Why didn’t they?  
 

Turns out, Air Canada was relying on the government to prevent a work stoppage.  Good for the union to push back.  

7 hours ago, blackbird said:

Some should go to jail for massive law breaking.  Caused massive inconvenience and delays and much expense to thousands of travelers for extra hotels, taxis, and meals.  We are either a country of laws or not.

Isn’t a right to strike part of the law?  Part of our Charter, in fact?

[Aristides]

1 hour ago, LinkSoul60 said:

I understand the pay when doors are closed that I gather is industry practice but haven't dove into enough.  Interested to see what comes of this, which could change the airline attendant industry if it does.

That sucks....  My wife and friends have been in Scotland and Ireland for 2 weeks and couldn't get out of Dublin on AC so booked Delta back through Minneapolis to YVR right now. They bought insurance through tour group they went with that she said will be covered?  It's only 2 days of strike but the cost and inconvenience is staggering, and they won't be back to full operations for another 7 - 10 days.  

Actually the pay doesn't start until the park brake is released and the aircraft is moving. Apparently there have been some changes in the contracts of major US carriers that provides some pay for time before and after. We'll have to see how this contract compares.  This is their first contract in 10 years so there are bound to be some major changes.

[LinkSoul60]

2 minutes ago, Aristides said:

Actually the pay doesn't start until the park brake is released and the aircraft is moving. Apparently there have been some changes in the contracts of major US carriers that provides some pay for time before and after. We'll have to see how this contract compares.  This is their first contract in 10 years so there are bound to be some major changes.

Wasn't aware that plane had to be moving.  End of the day it's not important to me, but am curious now to see how this shakes out.  Hadju said an investigation is being launched into the claim of unpaid work to see if their pay meets the requirements of Canadian Labour Code.  So in other words.... don't buy AC right now 😂

[CdnFox]

2 hours ago, TreeBeard said:

 

Isn’t a right to strike part of the law?  Part of our Charter, in fact?

Depends.  There's a dozen court cases that say no, but in 2015 one judge said yes but she's been very criticized for making a political statement in her finding.  

Still up in the air i guess. 

[herbie]

4 hours ago, LinkSoul60 said:

Not when you're characterized as an essential service and ordered back to work by the CIRB

Even then buddy. And in this case no one's even going to try to claim airline stewards are an essential service.
If they meet all that, all they can do is fine the union.

 

3 hours ago, TreeBeard said:

Air Canada couldn’t offer this before the strike?  Why didn’t they?

Of course they could have. 
Hah hah now all the other airlines are going to have to cough up too. Carney Libs ended a shit work practice that should've been illegal.

[LinkSoul60]

40 minutes ago, herbie said:

Even then buddy. And in this case no one's even going to try to claim airline stewards are an essential service.
If they meet all that, all they can do is fine the union.

Agree, the union will be fined.

Disagree on the ordering back. Agree or disagree with the decision but it's within the law.   I worded as 'characterized as an essential service' because it is essential to our economy, but the planes can't fly with people on them if the flight attendants aren't there.  And no, I'm not anti-union.

[herbie]

Disagree. The union won't be fined. There is no point, plus their action helped force the quick settlement.
Now we wait to see if the membership accepts.

[Aristides]

6 hours ago, LinkSoul60 said:

Wasn't aware that plane had to be moving.  End of the day it's not important to me, but am curious now to see how this shakes out.  Hadju said an investigation is being launched into the claim of unpaid work to see if their pay meets the requirements of Canadian Labour Code.  So in other words.... don't buy AC right now 😂

It won't hurt them on a domestic level because all carriers will be subject to the same rule. It might hurt them against international competitors if it adds costs their competition doesn't have. 

[Aristides]

4 hours ago, herbie said:

Even then buddy. And in this case no one's even going to try to claim airline stewards are an essential service.
If they meet all that, all they can do is fine the union.

 

 

If an airline is an essential service, so are its flight attendants. A minimum number depending on the number of passengers and exits are required by law for safety reasons. 

Quote

Of course they could have. 
Hah hah now all the other airlines are going to have to cough up too. Carney Libs ended a shit work practice that should've been illegal.

This could add substantial costs that could hurt competitiveness against foreign carriers  on international routes if they don't have to play by the same rules. It would apply to pilots as well.   

[blackbird]

12 hours ago, herbie said:

One of which is the right to strike.

The law gives the govt the power to end a strike and the govt ended it.  The union broke the law.  Duhhh