Air Canada running out of time to avoid strike
Posted Sep 17, 2011 05:19:08 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The clock is ticking towards Air Canada‘s second strike this year and potentially the big carrier’s most costly labour dispute in 13 years.
Negotiators for the airline and the union representing flight attendants are meeting this weekend trying to hammer out a new contract.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees gave strike notice on Friday night, meaning the flight attendants could walk out as early as Wednesday.
An earlier deal was rejected by the flight attendants and forced the company and union back to the bargaining table.
Hanging over the heads of the two sides is believed to be a government threat to quickly order an end to a strike.
Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt has invited both sides to a meeting if they can’t hammer out a deal this weekend.
Westjet ready for business
If Air Canada flight attendants do indeed go on strike this week, WestJet says it will be ready.
Sooner after word was out about the possible strike, Air Canada’s biggest competitor noticed a flood of calls to its call centre.
Robert Palmer with the airline says they can add more flights if need be.
“We really don’t know at this point what kind of demand we are going to experience if there is a labour disruption, so it’s really difficult to say how many flights or where they would be,” he says.
As for the silver lining? He says there should be plenty of room to accommodate more fliers since there are fewer travellers overall this time of year – a phenomenon known as “shoulder season.”
