By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press
Air Canada suspended plans to restart operations on Monday after the union representing 10,000 flight attendants said it would defy a return-to-work order and continue their strike.
About 240 flights were forced to cancel on Sunday due to the union’s defiance. The strike started on Saturday because of pay and scheduling disputes. The Canadian Union of Public Employees represents 10,000 flight attendants.
The shutdown of Canada’s largest airline early Saturday affected about 130,000 people daily. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day.
“It’s important to remember that flight attendants are safety professionals and their primary job is to ensure the safety of the aircraft,” Aviation expert Philip Mann said. “We’re used to them getting coffee and cookies and stuff, but that’s not their main job. Aircraft can’t fly without a full flight crew that includes the flight attendants.”
The Canadian government tried to diffuse the situation and find some common ground, but the union brushed it off and decided to stand its ground.
Flight attendants want to be fully paid for their ground duty and feel they are not being cared for financially as they should.
“It’s a prevalent thing in the industry,” Mann said. “This is for everybody, aircrew, flight attendants, and pilots. At some point, some demarcation point where they go from being unpaid to being paid on four flight attendants is quite often as soon as they close the doors. They start getting paid once they get to the gaiety and decide to open the doors, and are not paid anymore for pilots.”
This strike has impacted many people, especially passengers.
According to the airline, passengers can request a full refund on the airline’s website or mobile app.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina
