Air Canada flight attendants have yet to reach a collective agreement with their employer, but the likelihood of a strike got slimmer October 11.
Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said her office would refer the matter to the Canadian Industrial Labour Board on Wednesday. That would suspend the threat of a work stoppage long enough for the government to pass back-to-work legislation.
The flight attendants, who are Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members, are legally allowed to declare strike action at midnight Thursday.
They rejected, by a 62.5% majority, a second tentative agreement that CUPE reached with the airline.
CUPE’s British Columbia president Barry O’Neill did not return calls from Business in Vancouver by press time.
“While no formal talks have taken place yet, we are ready to return to the table and find a way to keep our members and the public flying with a fair collective agreement,” Jeff Taylor, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, said in a release.
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom