cross-posted from: https://ibbit.at/post/32605
On Tuesday, August 19, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, announced that a tentative agreement had been reached with the airline following a four day strike. The tentative deal secures at least one hour of ground pay before each flight, which was a key sticking point in the strike.
“Unpaid work is over”
One of the workers’ main grievances is that Air Canada flight attendants receive no pay for the work they perform prior to takeoff. Ground pay would compensate flight attendants for work performed while on the ground, such as carrying out safety checks and helping passengers, both before boarding and after deplaning.
The issue of ground pay is a key struggle for airline workers across North America, where it is common practice to not pay workers for labor done before takeoff. In the United States, flight attendants at United Airlines rejected a USD 6 billion tentative labor agreement because it failed to include pay for time spent on the ground before boarding and after deplaning.
“Unpaid work is over,” CUPE said in a statement announcing the tentative agreement, celebrating “achieving transformational change for our industry after a historic fight to affirm our Charter rights.” In Canada, Charter rights refer to the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter protects workers’ ability to form unions, bargain collectively, and pursue workplace improvements together.
Less than 12 hours into the strike, the Canadian government stepped in to resolve the dispute between Air Canada and the flight attendants’ union by attempting to crush the strike. Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, mandating binding arbitration and directing employees to return to work. CUPE denounced this move, accusing the government of “crushing flight attendants’ Charter rights.” The strike continued in spite of the Jobs Minister’s order.
The post “Unpaid work is over”: Canadian flight attendants reach tentative agreement with airline appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.
From Peoples Dispatch via this RSS feed
Wait what the fuck? I don’t know what’s crazier, that they weren’t paid for that labour before, or that the Canadian government tried to crush that super reasonable ask. Fuck everything about that situation man, glad they at least got that.
Not a new practice for the Canadian government, see also postal workers strikes, CN rail strike, Vancouver dock workers strike. There may be more that I’m not aware of.
And that’s just in the last year
Now they just do the mystified unpaid labour inherent to capitalism. Glad they won this tho.
One of the workers’ main grievances is that Air Canada flight attendants receive no pay for the work they perform prior to takeoff.
This boggles my mind.
This is industry standard and still applies to every other flight attendant you see, to be clear. It’s a big win for them and hopefully will move things forward for others very soon!
This is actually really common, and pretty sure it’s true for American flight attendents too. That doesn’t mean its good, just that, it’s not unique to Air Canada.
Always good to hear some good news, no matter how small
Sick of being told “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” when the wealthy get free lunches all the time. Maddeningly enough, the richer you are the less you are expected no, the more you are discouraged from ever spending money.
