The strike that grounded Air Canada (AC) planes and led to more than 700 flights being canceled has ended after the carrier’s flight attendants agreed to a tentative labour agreement.
On social media, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents about 10,000 flight attendants, said, “the strike has ended,” and advised its unionized members to “fully cooperate with resumption of operations.”
Air Canada said it would gradually restart operations on Aug. 19 and that a return to normal operations will likely take seven to 10 days.
More than 10,000 flight attendants walked off the job on Aug. 16 over pay and scheduling issues that it had been unable to resolve during collective bargaining.
The Canadian Industrial Relations Board directed the flight attendants to “resume their duties” on Aug. 17 and enter binding arbitration with Air Canada, but the flight attendants refused.
The union representing the flight attendants called the federal government’s back-to-work order “unconstitutional” and said its members would remain on the picket lines.
However, Air Canada and the federal government in Ottawa called the strike an illegal work stoppage and threatened consequences if the flight attendants didn’t resume their duties.
Montreal-based Air Canada has estimated that about 500,000 people had been impacted by the strike, which brought the airline’s operations to a standstill.
Details of the new labour agreement have not yet been made public and the flight attendants will need to vote on it at a later date before it can be ratified.
The airline had offered the flight attendants a 32.5% pay increase, which CUPE rejected as “insufficient.”
Air Canada’s stock has declined 14% this year to trade at $19.18 U.S. per share.
