Air Canada flight attendants to wrap up vote on new contract today

Flight attendants at Air Canada will wrap up voting on a new contract today at 3 p.m. ET.

The tentative deal, which ended a strike at the airline last month, raises wages for workers and establishes a pay structure for time worked when aircraft are on the ground.

Voting opened Aug. 27 for the 10,000-plus members of the union.

On Friday, the Air Canada component of CUPE released a statement indicating that flight attendants had rejected the offer. The union then issued a separate release, clarifying that the statement was published “in error.”

“The statement was one of multiple drafts prepared for different outcomes in anticipation of voting closing tomorrow, Saturday, September 6. To be clear, voting has not ended, and the result of the vote will not be known until after 3PM ET on Saturday, September 6.”

If the deal is not ratified, the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees says most terms would still form part of a new collective agreement with the airline, while those surrounding wages would then proceed to arbitration.

The tentative agreement includes a 12 per cent salary increase this year for most junior flight attendants and an eight per cent bump for more senior members, followed by smaller raises in subsequent years.

The three-day strike ended Aug. 19 with the help of a federal mediator after upending thousands of customers’ travel plans.