OPSEU/SEFPO’s 180,000 members in Ontario are sending unwavering solidarity to the 10,000 plus Air Canada Flight Attendants represented by CUPE. By invoking section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, the federal government has sided with Air Canada and deprived these workers of their Charter-protected right to strike. This decision rewards an employer that refused to bargain in good faith and instead relied on government interference to deliver the outcome it wanted.
Flight attendants are trying to negotiate a new deal that addresses their poverty wages and hours of unpaid labour. Air Canada has walked away from the table and instead appealed to the Carney government to intervene. The Federal Liberal government has shown that they would rather side with corporations like Air Canada than with workers like the CUPE Flight Attendants.
“Governments should not be rewarding bad bosses who are forcing people to work for free; instead they should be insisting that Air Canada return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair deal for the Flight Attendants whose labour it relies upon for the safety and comfort of passengers,” said JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO, who joined striking workers at their picket line on Sunday, August 17. “The precedent this government is setting undermines free collective bargaining for every worker in Canada. OPSEU/SEFPO members are proud to stand with CUPE flight attendants as they continue their strike in the face of the employer and the government colluding to break their spirit. We will be with them until they have a deal that they are willing to accept.”
Many OPSEU/SEFPO members joined President Hornick at Pearson International Airport and others joined picket lines set up by CUPE Flight Attendants at airports across Ontario yesterday and today.
Follow https://unpaidworkwontfly.ca/ for more details and please join their picket lines where you can to show your solidarity!