Over 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants plan to go on 3-day strike from Aug 16

Air Canada’s more than 10,000 flight attendants said they’ll strike for three days beginning Saturday after rejecting a sweetened offer from the airline and declining arbitration.

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Flight attendants have served a 72-hour strike notice after failing to reach a deal, their union said in a statement. Members voted 99.7% in favor of a strike mandate, it added.

A further update will be issued Wednesday evening, the union added.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the carrier said the union “submitted a counteroffer seeking exorbitant increases, beyond those presented in earlier submissions, and today rejected an offer by the company to enter binding, third-party arbitration.” The parties “remain far apart on key issues,” it added.

On Monday, Air Canada offered to increase total compensation, including benefits and bonuses, by 25% in the first year and 38% over four years, the company said. That’s more than a previous offer of 20% in the first year and 32.5% over four years, as reported by Bloomberg News.

In response, the union said Tuesday that Air Canada’s latest salary increase offer works out to 17.2% over four years, adding that it’s “below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage — and still leaves flight attendants unpaid for all hours of work.”

The labor action will, per day, ground about 700 mainline and Air Canada Rouge flights, and leave approximately 130,000 passengers behind. A strike or lockout would not impact the nearly 300 regional flights of Air Canada Express, which is operated by third-party carriers.