A tentative agreement has been reached to end the contract dispute between Air Canada and its flight attendants, both the airline and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced Tuesday.
CUPE, which represents more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, said that after nine hours of talks with the assistance of the chief mediator appointed by the federal government, the deal struck will be presented to its membership, who will have an opportunity to ratify it.
The union gave few details on the agreement, but said it does guarantee ground pay for their members — something that's been a major sticking point in talks so far.
"Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power," the union said in a statement provided to CBC News.
CUPE also advised its members to "fully co-operate with resumption of operations."
Air Canada also confirmed the tentative deal in a statement and said that flights would gradually return beginning Tuesday evening.
Michael Rousseau, the airline's president and chief executive officer, advised customers to be patient as full restoration of service "may require a week or more," but said that "everyone at Air Canada is doing everything possible to enable them to travel soon."
During the transition to full resumption of service, the airline expected that some flights would still be cancelled. Rousseau said the airline would offer options to customers in such a scenario, including a full refund, a credit for future travel and, if space allowed, rebooking on other airlines.
Posted by John3262005