The labor dispute continues for Air Transat flight attendants. They once again rejected out of hand the agreement in principle reached between their union and the employer on Thursday.
After almost unanimously rejecting a first agreement in principle at the beginning of January, 81.9% of employees affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees voted against the new employment contract.
88% of the 2,100 flight attendants assigned to the Montreal and Toronto airports for the airline have made their opinion known.
The voting process, which was prolonged due to turbulence within the union executive, also included a question on the renewal of the strike mandate which expired on January 23. In this regard, members voted 94.6% in favor.
“We were only offered a few percentage increases in salaries, but it was clearly not enough,” argues a flight attendant contacted by The newspaper and who requested anonymity because she is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
According to her, the recent changes at the head of the union demonstrate “awareness” and therefore better representation of the interests of flight attendants at the negotiating table.
“The most difficult thing is to make Transat understand it,” she says.
For its part, the Air Transat component of CUPE and its new president, Marie-Hélène Nadeau, did not want to react to the results. They “will not make any comments” in order to prioritize the resumption of negotiations.
Strike still possible
Regarding the renewal of the strike mandate, the flight attendant emphasizes that it was an “essential” step for “more solid negotiations”. She recalls that “everyone wants to avoid this scenario”, but that the flight attendants are ready to walk the walk if necessary.
This new mandate is in effect until 1er April 2024. Union members should respect a 72-hour deadline in the event of the decision to call a strike.
– With the collaboration of Jean-Philippe Guilbault
Negotiations full of twists and turns
On April 27, 2023: Start of negotiations between representatives of Air Transat flight attendants and their employer. Their collective agreement expired on October 31, 2022.
On November 27, 2023: The 2,100 members of the union have a 99.8% strike mandate, by far the highest total in the history of the Air Transat component of CUPE.
On December 14, 2023: A first agreement in principle is reached between the union and the employer party.
January 2, 2024: The offer on the table was rejected by 98.1% of the Quebec airline’s flight attendants.
On January 7, 2024: A second agreement is reached between union representatives and Air Transat.
On January 22, 2024: During a mandatory election under the statutes and regulations, the new president of the Air Transat component, Marie-Hélène Nadeau, was elected with a few votes in advance. She thus replaces Dominic Levasseur at the head of the negotiating committee.
On January 23, 2024: After being re-elected, the former treasurer of the union organization, Martin Rondeau, slammed the door. In his resignation letter, he cited “a toxic work climate” to explain his departure. These upheavals are delaying the voting process which was to conclude on January 28.
1er February 2024: The second agreement reached between CUPE and the employer is rejected by 81.9% by the flight attendants. The latter also have a new strike mandate valid until 1er april.