Air Canada Flight Attendants to Hold Protests at Airports Monday

Air Canada flight attendants represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) will hold a “Nationwide Day of Action” at airports across Canada on Monday, August 11.

In a press release, the union says the action will impact airports in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. No mention was made of potential flight disruptions or inconvenience to passengers.

“This is not a strike, this is a day of Action,” stated an email from the union to its members. “We need all members to show up in unified support of your bargaining team and to push for a Fair Deal at the table,” the email continued.

“Flight attendants are asking Air Canada to recognize the key elements of the negotiation, including non-working hours and poverty wages that are no longer consistent with the economic reality of 2025,” another union statement said.

News of the airport protests came as Air Canada and the union representing its 10,000 flight attendants were set to resume talks today.

Members have voted 99.7% in favour of a strike mandate. With at least 72 hours’ notice provided, flight attendants could potentially walk off the job as early as August 16.

Air Canada has stated that it is focused on reaching an agreement, calling a strike mandate vote “a normal step in the negotiation process.” The airline says it is not yet considering flight cancellations or postponements. 

CUPE also says it is optimistic that a strike can be avoided, but says it first wants to see how Air Canada responds to its proposals for higher wages and the elimination of unpaid labour.

The airport action is a tactic used in previous pilot and crew labour negotiations. 

The two sides have been in contract talks since the start of the year, with the strike mandate vote coming after the airline and union concluded a conciliation process without reaching a deal.

According to an unverified report in Bloomberg News on August 6, Air Canada flight attendants will be offered an overall increase of 32.5% over four years. Citing a source familiar with the negotiations, the story said Air Canada is proposing to increase total compensation, including benefits and bonuses, by about 20% immediately and a total of 32.5% over four years.

On October 10, 2024, Air Canada’s 5,400 pilots ratified a new four-year contract with significant improvements to compensation. Reuters reported that it saw an executive summary of the new contract and that it gave pilots a general cumulative pay increase of about 42%. Forging that agreement took both parties down to the wire.

In late July, flight attendants at United Airlines rejected a tentative agreement that was negotiated in May. It would have seen FAs get immediate raises of 26%, put other improvements. Over 70% of flight attendant union members voted against the deal. That labour impasse continues.