Air Canada Flight Attendants Overwhelmingly Reject Wage Proposal

On September 6, flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge rejected a proposed tentative agreement by a resounding 99.1 percent, with nearly 95 percent of bargaining unit members voting.

It was the latest act of defiance by the 10,000 Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) flight attendants at Canada’s premiere airline. Several weeks before, the union had struck the airline—facing down a government back-to-work order (probably unlawful) under Section 107 of Canada’s Labour Code.

As worker dissatisfaction over the proposed contract became palpable, many suspected a rejection was in the offing, but not by such an overwhelming margin.

This was not a typical ratification process where a bargaining team presents a full tentative agreement and members vote it up or down. Instead, workers were only permitted to weigh in on the wage proposal. All other contract provisions were “locked in” and not subject to member ratification.

GOVERNMENT REPRESSION

The excitement many had felt on August 16, when flight attendants defied the government’s draconian back-to-work order, may have clouded their assessment of the subsequent settlement. What was at first celebrated as a victory was in fact a deal, made under duress, that limited union democracy.

When the union refused to end its strike, Air Canada was compelled to return to the bargaining table. But the government did not then tell the Canada Industrial Relations Board to withdraw its back-to-work order. That order held, so the union still faced the real possibility of crushing fines and jail time for leaders if it continued to strike.

Because of that CIRB order, voting “no” on the contract didn’t mean returning to the picket line. It meant that a third-party arbitrator would have the power to impose a wage settlement. Now that flight attendants have voted to reject the company’s wage offer of 16 to 20 percent over four years (depending on seniority), their pay will be determined in arbitration—and potentially adjusted upward in the process.

Initially, the CIRB had refrained from filing the back-to-work order in federal court. So while the Board heeded the government’s direction to declare the strike unlawful, it delayed any enforcement action that might have resulted in impose fines or jail time. This created just enough breathing room for CUPE to defy the order and force Air Canada back to the bargaining table.

But that grace period wasn’t going to last forever. Union leaders likely knew that if they didn’t reach a deal quickly, the board’s leniency would end. They effectively faced a choice: risk government repression or limit union democracy. However contemptible, they chose the latter, signing off on a deal that had little chance of passing muster with members.

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The union’s decision, and the outcome of the whole conflict, ultimately stems from the government’s heavy-handed intervention. If CUPE faces blowback from its Air Canada flight attendants, much of the blame will lay squarely with the Liberal government.

PARTIAL GROUND PAY

Unpaid work was a central issue in this conflict—and it has been a union campaign target for years. Outrageously, flight attendants are mostly not paid for work they do before an airplane closes its doors. Members demanded that CUPE address unpaid work in this contract.

The union bargaining team managed to win ground pay for at least one hour per flight starting at 50 percent of hourly wages and increasing in each year of the contract. But because a failure to ratify the deal would mean arbitration—and arbitrators are unlikely to impose “breakthrough” provisions such as ending unpaid groundwork—the union opted to prevent members from voting on this issue, in case a “no” vote sent the issue to arbitration.

Again, the constraints imposed by the looming threat of government repression shaped the compromises the union made.

THE RIGHT TO STRIKE

The conflict, and its outcome, underscore why the right to strike is so fundamental. When the federal government intervened, it didn’t simply trample on flight attendants’ right to strike, but also undermined the entire collective bargaining system. Because returning to the picket line remained legally off the table, the union was compelled to agree to a compromised deal.

While many labor activists are understandably upset that CUPE created a situation where workers could vote only on a wage offer, we also know that union leaders faced significant financial penalties if members voted down the whole contract and continued to strike.

The government’s interference may change the union’s internal dynamics going forward, as members register their discontent over their inability to vote on the entire agreement.

Ultimately, the compromises that union leaders were compelled to accept should encourage workers to think about how best to maintain a rank-and-file opposition that can push back against union leaders and government actors alike. Beating back the Canadian government's new willingness to interfere with union rights may ultimately require workers to engage in the types of bold and often "illegal" action that won them those rights in the 1940s.

Adam D.K. King is an assistant professor in labor studies at the University of Manitoba.