In Solidarity with Air Canada Flight Attendants

HSA joins in solidarity with more than 10,000 of Air Canada's CUPE flight attendants as they strike to raise the standard of employment in their industry and end unpaid work.

“What’s at stake here is bigger than cancelled flights. It’s about protecting workers exercising their right to fair bargaining,” says Sarah Kooner, HSA President. “And that right means nothing if an employer can bank on intervention to force a deal. HSA is proud to join unions across the country in solidarity with the flight attendants.”  

What exactly is going on?

The problem:

• Air Canada’s CUPE flight attendants have been in a 10-year contract that has them working an average of 35 UNPAID hours per month. They are only paid when the plane is in the air – meaning that boarding, deplaning, handling delays/cancellations, assisting passengers with mobility needs, and the important pre-flight safety checks are ALL unpaid work. Air Canada has proposed paying them at 50% of their hourly pay for ground duties, but CUPE is demanding full pay.
• Flight attendants also must undergo mandatory annual training in order to maintain certification; they are typically paid at half of their hourly wage for their training. CUPE argues that this is unacceptable given the complexity and safety-critical nature of their training.

The response:

• First, flight attendants exercised their right to job action and walked off the job after months of stalled negotiations and employer refusal to address poverty wages and unpaid labour.
• Then, less than 12 hours into the strike, the federal government invoked section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to order workers back to work and impose binding arbitration. This was what Air Canada hoped for – having no contingency plan for the strike, the hope was that federal intervention would end it.
• Now, CUPE has chosen to fight the order, outlining that it violates charter-protected rights and undermines free collective bargaining

Does this impact me as an HSA Member?

Absolutely! As health care and community social services workers, we are subject to provincial essential services legislation. The right to strike, already limited for many by essential services legislation, must be protected to achieve fair contracts in health care, community social services, and beyond.

In the CUPE flight attendants’ case, under federal jurisdiction, Section 107 allows the federal government to bypass Parliament and unilaterally end strikes – without debate, scrutiny, or accountability. Employers may stall negotiations, expecting government intervention to force a deal. If this becomes the norm, bargaining power is at risk for all workers.

What is HSA doing?

HSA has joined the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the BC Federation of Labour (BCFED), and the National Union for Public and General Employees (NUPGE) in condemning the federal government’s actions. We are mobilizing members to support CUPE’s fight and defend collective bargaining rights for all workers.  

Read the full statement from NUPGE here and the CLC’s statement at this link.  

Your President and members of your Board of Directors have written in to support workers and to tell Air Canada that unpaid work is a crime.
 
HSA President Sarah Kooner would like to invite you to join her on the picket line tomorrow. She will be at Chester Johnson Park with other union leaders and members tomorrow afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m.
 
This is the time to stand in solidarity with our CUPE siblings. We stand firmly in our belief that an injury to one is an injury to all.

What can YOU do?

🔗 Tell Air Canada that unpaid work is a crime.

✍️ Write to your Member of Parliament and demand that the federal government protect workers’ charter-protected rights.

🪧 In Vancouver, join CUPE4094 at YVR in Chester Johnson Park at International Arrivals between 6 am and 11 pm. 

🖼️ Add a frame to your social media profile photo to show your solidarity with these flight attendants.