Air Canada flight attendants rally outside Labour Minister office
Posted October 13, 2011 4:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MILTON, Ont. – Dozens of Air Canada flight attendants rallied in front of Labour Minister Lisa Raitt’s office in Milton, Thursday.
Prior to the protest, a letter was posted on the door of Raitt’s office on Main Street, which advised the office was closed due to public safety concerns.
The flight attendants, dressed in purple, expressed frustration with the Labour Minister’s move to refer their labour dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, effectively taking away their right to strike.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) condemned what it called “the federal government’s unwarranted attack on collective bargaining rights” after a planned strike was blocked.
“When you have the government interfering like this, it totally detracts from what we’re supposed to be doing. It’s a really sad day — I feel we’ve gone from a democracy to a dictatorship,” one flight attendant said.
Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan showed up at the rally to support the flight attendants. He did not buy the government’s turbulence argument.
“The economic impact is a ridiculous argument […] you’ve got other competitors in the industry having no economy impact,” Ryan said.
A CUPE spokesperson said the flight attendants will not break the law by going on strike, but they could stage a work slowdown. However, what direction to take next has not yet been decided.
Meanwhile, Air Canada has gone on the attack, accusing CUPE of bargaining in bad faith since the flight attendants have already rejected two previous tentative offers.
