Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents roughly 10,000 flight attendants, reached a tentative deal on Tuesday morning (Aug. 19) to end a three-day-long strike.
The two sides managed to come to terms in negotiations through a mutually agreed-upon mediator, William Kaplan. The deal provides flight attendants with some form of ground pay for time worked during boarding and unloading, which was a major sticking point in negotiations. Full details of the deal have not yet been released.
"Unpaid work is over," the union said in a statement. "We have reclaimed our voice and power."
Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge will begin gradually resuming flights on Tuesday evening, the airline said in a news release. Air Canada Express flights are operated by a separate carrier and are therefore unaffected by the strike.
The strike began early Saturday morning, but after less than 12 hours, federal Labour and Families Minister Patty Hajdu ordered the striking flight attendants back to work and for the matter to be resolved through binding arbitration. The Canada Industrial Relations Board affirmed that decision on Monday.
Nevertheless, the strike continued, with CUPE President Mark Hancock saying on Monday he would go to jail if it came to that. The union argued that the airline was not bargaining in good faith because it knew the government would step in to end a strike.
The union's Tuesday statement called it a "historic fight to affirm our Charter rights."
The strike grounded all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights for three days, disrupting travel for about 130,000 people each day.
鈥淭he suspension of our service is extremely difficult for our customers," Air Canada President Michael Rousseau said in a news release. "We deeply regret and apologize for the impact on them of this labour disruption. Our priority now is to get them moving as quickly as possible."
Due to the complexity of restarting the airline's entire operation, a full restoration of service could take up to a week or more, Rousseau said. This is due to the cascading effects of aircraft and crew being out of position.
People with flights scheduled in this timeframe are being told not to go to the airport unless their flight is confirmed as operating on . Those with cancelled flights will be offered the option of a full refund or credit for future travel. The airline can also rebook some people on other carriers, when possible.
