Air Canada, flight attendants in final day before strike deadline

More than 10,000 flight attendants are poised to walk off the job around 1 a.m. ET on Saturday, followed by a company-imposed lockout if the two sides can't reach an eleventh-hour deal.

Air Canada warned it is cancelling around 500 flights previously scheduled to take off today in anticipation of the work stoppage, with a full halt looming Saturday.

It said it would notify customers of cancellations through email and text message, adding it recommends against going to the airport unless they have a confirmed booking and their flight still shows as operating.

Customers whose flights are cancelled will be offered a full refund. Air Canada said it is also allowing customers to change their travel plans without a fee if they choose to do so.

The Air Canada component of CUPE said it is eager to avoid a work stoppage by sitting down to negotiate, while the airline has requested federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu step in and direct the parties to enter binding arbitration.

Hajdu said Thursday she asked the union to respond to the company's request for arbitration. The union formally rejected that option on Friday, instead maintaining its desire to resume bargaining.

It said Hajdu should also deny Air Canada’s request for intervention.

"Such a decision would reaffirm the principles of free collective bargaining and compel Air Canada to return to the bargaining table — where it ought to be — and engage meaningfully in negotiations, where it is likely that the parties may be able to reach an agreement," the union said in a press release.

"Rather than continuing to negotiate in good faith, Air Canada appears to have anticipated government intervention and has opted to suspend meaningful discussions, contrary to its legal obligation to bargain in good faith."

Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada's executive vice-president and chief human resources officer, has said the airline agrees that resolving the deadlock through negotiations would be the best outcome.

"Should that all not materialize, we do have to think about the very serious disruptions that would ensue," she told reporters Thursday.

"We have asked for the government to consider intervening if we get to that point. But we are doing everything in our power to avoid getting to that point."

Meanwhile, CUPE released new polling by Abacus Data on Friday, suggesting that 59 per cent of Canadians believe the federal government should respect flight attendants’ right to take job action, even if it causes travel disruptions.

The weighted survey of 1,500 respondents, conducted Thursday and Friday, said 88 per cent of Canadians believe flight attendants should be paid for all work-related duties including boarding, delays and safety checks — a key sticking point in negotiations that has led to the impasse.

"Despite Air Canada’s campaign of half-truths against their cabin crew, Canadians clearly stand on the side of fairness — with flight attendants,” said Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, in a press release.

"Minister Hajdu must stand on the side of workers’ rights and fairness, and reject Air Canada’s request to trample our Charter rights to bargain an end to unpaid work."

The poll found 76 per cent of respondents support raising Air Canada flight attendants' pay "to reflect the safety role of flight attendants in emergencies."

Four-in-five respondents said they support raising flight attendant pay to meet the rising cost-of-living.

Air Canada said Thursday that its latest proposal includes a 38 per cent increase in total compensation over four years, including a new provision for ground pay "that is industry-leading in Canada."

The proposal would provide "significant improvements" to health benefits and pension plans, an increase to paid vacation and measures to address union concerns about rest and work-life balance, the airline said.

"It will make Air Canada flight attendants the best compensated in Canada," the company said, adding its cabin crew already earn up to $17 more per hour than their counterparts at Air Canada's largest domestic competitor.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi