On September 6, flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge rejected a proposed tentative agreement by a resounding 99.1 percent, with nearly 95 percent of bargaining unit members voting.
It was the latest act of defiance by the 10,000 Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) flight attendants at Canada’s premiere airline. Several weeks before, the union had struck the airline — facing down a government back-to-work order (probably unlawful) under Section 107 of Canada’s Labour Code.
As worker dissatisfaction over the proposed contract became palpable, many suspected a rejection was in the offing but not by such an overwhelming margin.
This was not a typical ratification process where a bargaining team presents a full tentative agreement and members vote it up or down. Instead, workers were only permitted to weigh in on the wage proposal. All other contract provisions were “locked in” and not subject to member ratification.
The excitement many had felt on August 16, when flight attendants defied the government’s draconian back-to-work order, may have clouded their assessment of the subsequent settlement. What was at first celebrated as a victory was in fact a deal, made under duress, that limited union democracy.
When the union refused to end its strike, Air Canada was compelled to return to the bargaining table. But the government did not then tell the Canada Industrial Relations Board to withdraw its back-to-work order. That order held, so the union still faced the real possibility of crushing fines and jail time for leaders if…
Auteur: Adam D. K. King
