TA Vote by FA's

[mrlupin]

Just this year we made an application to break away the maintenance group from the IAM, supplied with supporting documentation from HRDC and the NOC clearly demonstrating the unit was not appropriate, the CIRB denied and refused to explain as to why the application was declined except to say that in their opinion the unit was proper.

????

A raid was done this year to oust the IAM?

Was it localized in Western Canada or was it just kept really quiet?

[dagger]

Looks like Air Canada is trying to make sure the CIRB takes the minister's referral request to the board that it impose a contract or have one arbitrated.

http://www.theglobea...article2199720/

[mrlupin]

With all these imposed Collective agreements, it should be interesting to see if lower and mid level management are up to the task of managing a discontent workforce. There are consequences to having a heavy handed approach to negotiations.

The world is changing, the economic reality is different today but what doesn't change is the formula for success in business. Empowered employees who feel part of a team, rowing in the same direction with similar objectives and finding solutions to each problems that surface, will always perform better then top down managed employees.

AC, and now even Dagger, seem to have developed a sort of affection for the anti-labor Conservatives. After years of sour relationships with the Liberals Transport minister, AC has now made friends in the pro-business government. Time will tell how AC's decisions will affect it. I just can't see it improving its productivity by imposing collective agreements.

[dagger]

With all these imposed Collective agreements, it should be interesting to see if lower and mid level management are up to the task of managing a discontent workforce. There are consequences to having a heavy handed approach to negotiations.

The world is changing, the economic reality is different today but what doesn't change is the formula for success in business. Empowered employees who feel part of a team, rowing in the same direction with similar objectives and finding solutions to each problems that surface, will always perform better then top down managed employees.

AC, and now even Dagger, seem to have developed a sort of affection for the anti-labor Conservatives. After years of sour relationships with the Liberals Transport minister, AC has now made friends in the pro-business government. Time will tell how AC's decisions will affect it. I just can't see it improving its productivity by imposing collective agreements.

It probably won't improve productivity through imposed agreements, but I don't see that what you call good contracts would do that either. It's not in the culture inherited from Crown Corp days. It's not in the union DNA, not in Canada anyway.

I believe AC will have to improve its overall performance through technology, and by renegotiating or exiting unprofitable service arrangements.

My view is that Canada's aviation policy is dysfunctional, has been for decades, and that a lot of evils flow from that, including AC's current labour situation.

[mrlupin]

Dagger,

It is highly unlikely AC can find a technology that will give it an edge over competitors. If it did find a new idea,concept that revolutionized air transportation, it will merely be copied by competitors and the advantage would disappear.

1)Probably half the employees at AC were hired post crown corp days.

2)Your argument about culture simply doesn't pass the smell test. Cultures can be created, influenced and modified by the management team. Thats what good labor relations are all about. Westjet doesn't pay much more then AC, it simply gets more out of its workforce... Reward doesn't always have to be pecuniary but when the leader of a business entity gets huge $$ rewards for a mediocre performance (AC hasn't exactly been shinning) he gives the example for other to follow. The CEO already get a higher paycheck, plus he gets a golden parachute when he screws up... why not let bonuses be handed out equally by percentage. It certainly would help with the image problem...

3) imposed settlements have a tendency of increasing bitterness from the captive employees. (Yes... Captive. There is always the option to walk away but for a large portion of the workforce, it is nearly impossible. The pension shackles them to the corporation...) A bitter workforce will use more sick days, be less productive and even less cooperative in many instances. If only 10% of a group behaves like that, you would be surprised at the impacts on productivity.

4)ref:Exiting unprofitable service arrangements. Bean has been prophesying Porters failure for years now. Apparently YTZ doesn't have the pax load for a successful airline, yet AC is operating flights head to head with Porter. Is that a good example of a "unprofitable service arrangement"?

5) Most employees just want a good work environment, a place where they can do their job, contribute positively and even improve things to make things better. Why not explore that aspect and work towards re-establishing trust in the employee group?

[boestar]

First off AC is not imposing the Agreements. An INDEPENDENT arbitrator is. So point the finger in the right direction.

If the unions actually worked WITH the company instead of in the adversarial fashion they do now then maybe something productive will come out of it. Watching these rag tag negotiations from the outside is a little amuzing. The chaos within the union and the negotiation comittees is the root of the problem NOT AC. There is no defined goal here just a we want it all and want it now (except the DC plan and the LCC).

For heavens sake go to the memberships of yor respective unions and formulate a plan. Prioritize your demands. fight the winnable battles and let the un winnable go for the next time.

and pick a negots team that knows what the bloody membership actually wants. The negots comittee represents the MEMBERS.

[mrlupin]

Looks like Air Canada is trying to make sure the CIRB takes the minister's referral request to the board that it impose a contract or have one arbitrated.

http://www.theglobea...article2199720/

Boestar....

[Guest]

????

A raid was done this year to oust the IAM?

Was it localized in Western Canada or was it just kept really quiet?

Hi Eric,

We filed a section 18, a review of the unit to say it was not appropriate, we had documentation from HRDC as well as the NOC supporting the request but the CIRB still refused to split the unit. They gave no documentation to support their decision with the exception of one letter stating THEY find the unit to be proper.

[dagger]

http://newswire.ca/en/story/858091/air-canada-files-unfair-labour-practice-complaint-against-cupe

Air Canada Files Unfair Labour Practice Complaint Against CUPE

MONTREAL, Oct. 13, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada said today that it has filed an unfair labour practice against the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the union representing the airline's 6,800 flight attendants.

Air Canada and CUPE have been engaged in collective bargaining under the provisions of the Canada Labour Code(the "Code") since April 2011. Since that time, two tentative agreements were reached with CUPE's bargaining committee on August 1, 2011 and on September 20, 2011, and despite unanimous endorsements by the committee, both tentative agreements were rejected by CUPE membership.

It is Air Canada's position that the last tentative agreement reached on September 20, 2011 was rejected by CUPE membership as a result of CUPE's bad faith conduct during the bargaining process by:

(a) presenting modified demands at the bargaining table which added costs to their initial proposal and which widened the issues in dispute rather than narrowing them;( tabling demands that it portrayed to Air Canada as being sufficient to meet its membership's demands;© representing to Air Canada that it knew what its membership's demands were in order to obtain successful ratification of a new collective agreement; and(d) failing to deploy all necessary efforts, as represented to Air Canada, to obtain ratification of the last tentative agreement.

The airline is seeking an order declaring that CUPE failed to bargain in good faith contrary to its obligations under section 50(a) of the Code and seeking damages to compensate Air Canada for losses incurred as a result of CUPE's actions.

On October 12^th, Air Canada and CUPE received notice that the Minister of Labour, the Hon. Lisa Raitt, has asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), under Section 87.4 of the Canada Labour Code, to determine the rights and obligations of the employer, the union and the employees to continue the supply of services in the event of a strike. As a result of this CIRB referral, CUPE cannot commence a legal strike at least until this matter has been decided by the CIRB.

In the meantime, it remains business as usual at Air Canada and all flights will continue to operate as scheduled.

[Don Hudson]

. . . .

I believe AC will have to improve its overall performance through technology, and by renegotiating or exiting unprofitable service arrangements.

AC has always been at the forefront in implementing new technologies - it used the internet early and travel agents didn't hear the train coming. PBS - preferential bidding distributes work more productively, (to forestall complaints, there are exceptions in both pilot and FA systems. The system is technically more efficient over the old block-bidding system but does have its detractors, and it can make it more difficult to team-build for both groups). I helped create a data system which the primary goal was flight safety through knowing what the airplanes were doing but the cost-benefits available through the program were, arguably in my view and for various complex reasons, not fully taken advantage of. It is a significant challenge to consider need, research solutions, create contractual arrangments and implement technologies which are certain to have this benefit.

With this in mind dagger, what kind of technologies do you see making a meaningful, (that is, a big dent in costs), improvement to overall performance?

My view is that Canada's aviation policy is dysfunctional, has been for decades, and that a lot of evils flow from that, including AC's current labour situation.

As you know, I would completely agree with the first statement. I made this observation shortly after privatization and have continued to do so because aviation policy is confused about what commercial aviation is and does in Canada and it doesn't matter which government was/is in power at the time. The policy reminds me of a rag-tag bits-bolted-on piece of modern sculpture - it is an amalgam of historically confusing transportation policies regarding public and private ownership and it is never sure what or who it is and consequently nobody knows who it is either, one result being, making decisions or plans becomes problematic. Apron-strings between government and a privately-held airline speak most clearly to this immaturity of policy.

The second statement is arguable. I can recall years of labour peace prior to de-regulation and the subsequent privatization of the airline. "Privatization" was certainly in tune with the unfolding antipathy towards public organizations when everything public was "bad" and privatization promised to solve profitability and management problems. Prior to such foundational changes, things were quietly done, often on a handshake - at least that's the way it was with Davis and others following, (not denying there were problems even then, but one cannot change the nature of negotiations, one can only recognize and account for human nature, the results of which make the atmosphere less, or more "poisoned"). Political interference/support (depending upon one's p.o.v.), seemed to many to be in the form of patronage appointments to the Chair or President's position but at least employees' contribution to the enterprise was somewhat recognized and valued. I suppose one could make the connection between a confused aviation policy and the indeterminacy of the value of "expensive" and "cantankerous" labour which must be controlled, (by government, and government's institutions). This was a relatively new phenomenon to a company that has survived and been a continuous part of the Canadian economy for 74 years. I am in agreement that the relationship between management, shareholders and labour must alter for all to prosper and argue that the three-legged stool must be able to stand on its own without support from an interfering public trust if that, (private enterprise, and all that notion entails), is to be served with integrity. Otherwise, re-patriate transportation policy so that it can be controlled and predictable for all users, and the benefit of the economy, the point being, get on with either and stop sitting in the middle, in the way of things.

In all this, remember one thing which is a signal characteristic, (but by no means the only sign), of these changes: Pilots starting at regional carriers in the US make below-poverty-level wages, (the Colgan F/O was "raking in" US$16,000/year) - that is a fact, and it is a very long time, (twenty years is not uncommon) before pilots make wages equivalent to their training, education, commitment and professional status. So amid these circumstances and grand arguments, we have an aviation system which is wholly unattractive to young people. Industry can only rely upon "the love of flying" so much before it has change. The FAA, (Transport Canada has been completely silent on the issue), has intervened in the now-understood failures of industry standards and training made visible by some serious, fatal accidents. Discussion on how it must change is the subject of another thread.

- Don

[Kip Powick]

AC has always been at the forefront in implementing new technologies

Sorry Don....,this post isn't really relevant to the thread topic...... but I couldn't let that slide by.

When CP merged with AC we, (CP), were astounded with the antiquated system you fellows, (pilot corp), had for acquiring flight data. You must admit the flight planning system was really out of date.

It took weeks to figure out how to acquire the information and a lot of keyboard activitie to get what one needed. The CP system was superior in every facet and one entry gave the pilot all the info he needed.

I would assume that in the time I have been out, many of those flight planning data gathering problems have been resolved...at least I hope so.

The rest of your post...well .....no comment as I have been a Dotland resident, and a very happy one, for quite some time and don't get too involved with the internal workings of AC !!!

[dagger]

AC has always been at the forefront in implementing new technologies - it used the internet early and travel agents didn't hear the train coming. PBS - preferential bidding distributes work more productively, (to forestall complaints, there are exceptions in both pilot and FA systems. The system is technically more efficient over the old block-bidding system but does have its detractors, and it can make it more difficult to team-build for both groups). I helped create a data system which the primary goal was flight safety through knowing what the airplanes were doing but the cost-benefits available through the program were, arguably in my view and for various complex reasons, not fully taken advantage of. It is a significant challenge to consider need, research solutions, create contractual arrangments and implement technologies which are certain to have this benefit.

With this in mind dagger, what kind of technologies do you see making a meaningful, (that is, a big dent in costs), improvement to overall performance?

- Don

I was thinking of big-tickets like the 787, which for an airline with Air Canada's market characteristics puts it back into the game on long-thin routes where it can't make money with a larger or less range capable aircraft.

I was thinking of more digital customer/system interfaces. AC has been a leader in developing mobile capabilities for the iPhone, iPad, etc, and has been using technology increasingly to rebook passengers, even giving the passengers more tools to bypass the human res interface in all types of transactions.

I was thinking of rules and fees that condition the marketplace - like baggage fees that reduce the total weight and voiume of checked bags.

I was thinking of Nexus concepts for the domestic or intercontinental traveller to get accelerated through customs and security.

I was thinking of waste-based biofuels that can create a more blended, and stable, fuel price regime when jet A prices begin to soar again (which they will)

I was thinking of deals like this: http://www.informationweek.com/news/services/business/231900305

I was thinking of travel agent tools Air Canada has helped pioneer to push more revenue per passenger through the agency channel.

I was thinking of the renegotiation of vendor agreements, particularly the AVEOS deal (in 2013?) which also coincides with initial deliveries of the 787.

[FA@AC]

I'm puzzled as to what AC expects its (frivolous?) claim of unfair labour practice to achieve. We all know that our negotiators were incompetent, and that they ought to have stepped aside weeks ago. To suggest that they acted dishonestly, if that is what AC is suggesting in its complaint, looks to me to be outrageous. There is nothing to be gained by raising the temperature here. The situation is ugly enough as it is.

[Guest]

http://newswire.ca/e...nt-against-cupe

YA RIGHT!!!!!!

I seem to recall a certain VP in the last round telling the FA's they were INSIGNIFICANT,insulting the FA's as well as the mediator, but yet the union is bargaining in bad faith?

All this is doing is rubbing more salt into an already festering wound. Stupid stunt AC!

[dagger]

I'm puzzled as to what AC expects its (frivolous?) claim of unfair labour practice to achieve. We all know that our negotiators were incompetent, and that they ought to have stepped aside weeks ago. To suggest that they acted dishonestly, if that is what AC is suggesting in its complaint, looks to me to be outrageous. There is nothing to be gained by raising the temperature here. The situation is ugly enough as it is.

I think the point is to give the Labour Board sufficient reasons to appoint an arbitrator directly as opposed to sending it back to Lisa Raitt to do via legislation.

I think the other point is to embarrass CUPE, which deserves to be embarrassed. It has no business representing workers in the private sector, and I suspect AC would love it if prior to the next round of negotiations, the flight attendants switch to another union, like the CAW. There is a long-standing view within AC that negotiating with CUPE (and the IAM in the current context, not the old IAM) is like nailing jello to the wall, where the CAW plays it tough, but straight, and brings real professionals to the other side of the table.

The application for damages and a judgment of unfair labor practises also puts the union - and indirectly the membership - on notice that the company is ready to take a tough line if they engage in tactics which could be deemed to constitute illegal job action.

Air Canada can't suddenly protest against tactics it doesn't like if it hasn't laid down its objections when these tactics begin. Estoppal of a sorts.

[Guest]

I think the point is to give the Labour Board sufficient reasons to appoint an arbitrator directly as opposed to sending it back to Lisa Raitt to do via legislation.

I think the other point is to embarrass CUPE, which deserves to be embarrassed. It has no business representing workers in the private sector, and I suspect AC would love it if prior to the next round of negotiations, the flight attendants switch to another union, like the CAW. There is a long-standing view within AC that negotiating with CUPE (and the IAM in the current context, not the old IAM) is like nailing jello to the wall, where the CAW plays it tough, but straight, and brings real professionals to the other side of the table.

The application for damages and a judgment of unfair labor practises also puts the union - and indirectly the membership - on notice that the company is ready to take a tough line if they engage in tactics which could be deemed to constitute illegal job action.

Air Canada can't suddenly protest against tactics it doesn't like if it hasn't laid down its objections when these tactics begin. Estoppal of a sorts.

One thing for sure, after 2 failed TA's it becomes rather obvious that CUPE has not listened one bit to the membership and as such, it is time for the entire bargaining committee to either resign or be removed.

As to your comments about the IAMAW, you are quite correct

[Don Hudson]

Sorry Don....,this post isn't really relevant to the thread topic...... but I couldn't let that slide by.

When CP merged with AC we, (CP), were astounded with the antiquated system you fellows, (pilot corp), had for acquiring flight data. You must admit the flight planning system was really out of date.

It took weeks to figure out how to acquire the information and a lot of keyboard activitie to get what one needed. The CP system was superior in every facet and one entry gave the pilot all the info he needed.

I would assume that in the time I have been out, many of those flight planning data gathering problems have been resolved...at least I hope so.

The rest of your post...well .....no comment as I have been a Dotland resident, and a very happy one, for quite some time and don't get too involved with the internal workings of AC !!!

Kip;

Thanks for the response from dot-land - I'm very happy in retirement as well, and remain an observer of the industry that provided so well for our family.

I was writing about an overall approach to things vice specific issues. There will always be examples of successes and failures in a complex system.

That said, I think your comment specifically concerning flight planning, (the changeover to Lufthansa's LIDO system), is a valid one. At the time, LIDO was undergoing large changes and its development was not smooth and took an enormous amount of time and personnel, so, fair comment on that specific item.

As far as commenting on internal AC affairs, I can't because I too am retired and almost entirely out of touch regarding both AC and the Association. But I am interested in labour issues wherever they emerge and am motivated here to ask questions which have been raised in dagger's comments regarding improvements in technology at AC. AC used to win technical excellence awards for their maintenance and innovation solutions and that was the thing to which I was referring in my comments.

[Don Hudson]

dagger;

Thank you for your response. My comments in blue:

I was thinking of big-tickets like the 787, which for an airline with Air Canada's market characteristics puts it back into the game on long-thin routes where it can't make money with a larger or less range capable aircraft.

Yes, agree. Arrival of the B787 can't come too soon.

I was thinking of more digital customer/system interfaces. AC has been a leader in developing mobile capabilities for the iPhone, iPad, etc, and has been using technology increasingly to rebook passengers, even giving the passengers more tools to bypass the human res interface in all types of transactions.

I've seen these interfaces. Quite frankly, they're friendlier and quicker to use than Westjet's. The one observation I do have is, the QR codes, (Version 3 I think) for AC boarding passes must be accessed on the web and if the passenger doesn't have a data plan for his/her Blackberry one must line up at the kiosk to print one's boarding pass, while the WJ code is sent as a jpg image right in the email confirmation and can be used at security and at the gate. With the AC method, if the passenger doesn't have access to a printer where he/she is staying, he/she is slowed down prior to security by having to stand in line at the kiosks to print the boarding pass. Sending the QR as a jpg-attachement to an email instead of requiring the user to access the web has to be a simple fix that would really speed things up for AC passengers. Now I haven't examined the security issues but I should think the QR is attached to the passeneger's reservation and wouldn't be a problem so long as it can be read at security.

I was thinking of rules and fees that condition the marketplace - like baggage fees that reduce the total weight and voiume of checked bags.

Weight is fuel burnt. Any process, action or decision that can reduce the Zero Fuel Weight of the aircraft reduces the fuel burn and reduces costs thereby. I think there are lots of legitimate ways to lower this weight. Interestingly, reducing fuel burn also reduces the fuel boarded to carry the extra fuel, etc! (I'm not talking about reduction of fuel boarded. That's an operational decision well outside this discussion. I'm talking about ways in which the zero-fuel weight can reasonably be reduced). Fine-tuning this is part of the process I described to Kip in my response to his flight planning comments above. But it can go much further and still not have a large impact on passenger comfort. Take all the newspapers and magazines off! Fuel burn typically changes by around 4% of the weight carried whether it is a slick magazine or five tonnes of extras in everyone's luggage. And this doesn't even broach the PC topic of discussing the effects of an increasing national level of obesity.

I was thinking of Nexus concepts for the domestic or intercontinental traveller to get accelerated through customs and security.

My wife and I use the Nexus process every time we travel. It works well and really speeds up lines. It doesn't work in outside of Canada and the US but perhaps the process can be implemented for other international travel. In exchange, one's entire life becomes an open book primarily for US authorities but also for Canada's.

I was thinking of waste-based biofuels that can create a more blended, and stable, fuel price regime when jet A prices begin to soar again (which they will)

Agree, but not to canola or corn-based bio-fuels. Will that be fries with your flight?... ;-)

I was thinking of deals like this: http://www.informati...iness/231900305

I won't comment on IBM but the move away from the notion of PC-based worked processes back to the original model now incarnate in notion of "the cloud", with PCs returning to "client" status can save costs in many areas including updates and security.

I was thinking of travel agent tools Air Canada has helped pioneer to push more revenue per passenger through the agency channel.

...and returning a travel agency to its original, valid purpose which was to advise on travelling to foreign lands, not book tickets.

I was thinking of the renegotiation of vendor agreements, particularly the AVEOS deal (in 2013?) which also coincides with initial deliveries of the 787.

Can't comment as I have no idea about these things. But insofar as service agreements with those who handle flights and from the flight planning discussion above with Kip I do recall that LIDO was focussed on fine-tuning the costs of flight including routings, ATC service charges*, fuel burn, detailed wind/trop/temp analysis, last-minute fuel calculations to fine-tune zero-fuel weight, use/non-use of ADS - Automatic Dependent Surveillance (negotiated with most countries), crew-duty day scheduling and curfew contraints, etc.

* - the ATC and routing one has an interesting side-story: Flying out of the British Isles over Stornoway, the Outer Hebrides towards Iceland, there was a small corner controlled by Shanwick, which, if traversed, would incur ATC/Aeradio costs of several thousand dollars for the ten minutes of flight it took to cut the corner. Altering the route by one degree north, (over RATSU, not ATSIX, for those interested), would avoid that cost. There are hundreds of such examples.

[moeman]

I'm puzzled as to what AC expects its (frivolous?) claim of unfair labour practice to achieve. We all know that our negotiators were incompetent, and that they ought to have stepped aside weeks ago. To suggest that they acted dishonestly, if that is what AC is suggesting in its complaint, looks to me to be outrageous. There is nothing to be gained by raising the temperature here. The situation is ugly enough as it is.

I've heard allegations that the Bargaining Committee refused to use our bargaining survey results because the survey was taken by the previous leadership. Childish, I know, but there was a lot of animosity between the two groups, not to mention the lawsuit between Lesley and Katherine, so I wouldn't say it couldn't have happened that way. If true, AC has a good point about the BC not negotiating in good faith.

[dagger]

I've heard allegations that the Bargaining Committee refused to use our bargaining survey results because the survey was taken by the previous leadership. Childish, I know, but there was a lot of animosity between the two groups, not to mention the lawsuit between Lesley and Katherine, so I wouldn't say it couldn't have happened that way. If true, AC has a good point about the BC not negotiating in good faith.

http://www.theglobea...article2200025/

I don't know if this refers to the first or second round of negotiations, probably the second since the Facebook page probably didn't exist or reflect much early in the process. It speaks ill of the committee that they would have rushed to reopen talks without a good understanding of what items would get an agreement ratified. But then again, CUPE is out of its league here. CUPE National can bellyache all it wants about the abrogation of worker rights, and in a pure private sector context it would have a solid argument, but Air Canada is neither a pure private sector company like Westjet or Porter or Transat, and CUPE certainly isn't a union capable of negotiating with a private sector, multi-union employer where its approaches and decisions are easily benchmarked against the professionalism and common sense of other unions. There are at least allegations of serial ineptitude, if not bargaining in bad faith, and I'm of the view that CUPE National ordered the last strike notice given precisely to get the minister to take the action she did. CUPE knows its got a runaway, knows that a strike, after an initial period of chaos, could get very ugly for the members who might then oust CUPE at the first legal opportunity. Closing this off now closes off the open period and allows CUPE to try to rebuild its credibility. But in aiming for arbitration, it's going belly-ache every inch of the way about its lost rights and try to rally the AC members around the notion that all would have come out fine if not for Lisa Raitt. Oh woe is me!

The airline said CUPE made "representations to Air Canada without having conducted any formal surveys of its membership. It is Air Canada's understanding that CUPE's conclusions were based solely on e-mails and reviews of Facebook discussions."

[Kip Powick]

Alison Kjertinge was 8 years old and a Grade 3 student in Mississauga in 1971 when she first laid eyes on a flight attendant. She thought she was the coolest, most beautiful creature in the world.

In those days, they were called stewardesses, and Kjertinge spent the entire Toronto to London flight mesmerized by the woman with pouffy hair and blue eyes who was so kind to her. Right then and there, she knew what she wanted to be when she grew up.

She’s done it. At 48, she flies with Air Canada and loves it, both the flying and the company. With an honours degree and four languages, she gets to fly international routes that include Sydney, Tokyo, Beijing and London.

What she doesn’t love is the monthly reviews of her budget that usually leave her tearing her hair out. She’s a divorced mother of two with 27 years at Air Canada who makes $46,300 a year when she flies.

“I’m very careful with a dollar, but we still live paycheque to paycheque,” Kjertinge said in a recent telephone interview from Guelph, where she was visiting family (she grew up in Mississauga). She flies out of Vancouver.

“I’m not slamming Air Canada. I’m the best-case scenario and I have good routes, but if I’m struggling, I look at younger staffers who make much less and wonder how they do it. They started just like me — with stars in their eyes.”

Air Canada is in a labour dispute with its 6,800 flight attendants, who are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The Conservative government blocked last week’s pending strike by going to the Canada Industrial Labour Board. The board has not ruled, and Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is expected to take further action when Parliament returns on Oct. 17 from its Thanksgiving break.

The political wrangling seems to have shifted the focus from the lives of flight attendants like Kjertinge, who cringe when they hear public comments about their supposedly glamorous lives and bulging pay packets.

Once the job was glamorous. Those days have returned to television with ABC’s retro Pan Am, starring Christina Ricci and a bevy of high-flying beauties marching through airports in sync, girdles and cute little caps firmly in place.

For Kjertinge in 2011, life is about jet lag after long flights, struggling to find time to spend with Anika, 12, and Dane, 17, scrimping on food budgets and eschewing such luxuries as cable TV, family vacations or a pet.

Here’s a taste of typical flights: on a Friday evening, she drives her used Honda CR-V from her small bungalow in Tsawwassen, a peninsula town just south of Vancouver, to the airport to catch AC Flight 33 to Sydney. She has a 24-hour layover in Australia before working Flight 34 back to Vancouver, with the time difference arriving Monday morning.

Or she might work Flight 3 to Tokyo, also leaving Friday and, after a 24-hour layover, work Flight 4 from Tokyo back to Vancouver, with the time difference arriving Sunday.

For her annual salary, she works about four of these blocks each month. Flight attendants are paid from “wheels up” to touchdown at their destination, but not for time spent waiting on the tarmac or for layovers.

Kjertinge says it’s important to stress she could work more hours and earn more money. “But I’d have to absolutely kill myself to do it and I’d have no time with my kids,” she says. “I just can’t make that sacrifice.”

Some flight attendants have no options, but these employees generally shy away from going on-the-record with the media. Employees with public union ties are more open.

Since January, Kjertinge has been on leave and serving as a vice-president of the CUPE local, for the experience and to put away some extra cash. But she’s returning to full-time flying at the beginning of the new year.

Kjertinge and her ex-husband share the children, with both spending time with them. However, he has his own place to maintain and she pays all bills on the little bungalow she bought years ago in Tsawwassen.

She calculated her cash flow with the Star and it shows that, after the mortgage payment, utilities, gas, insurance and food, she has about $200 left monthly. Typically that sum quickly disappears, leaving her in the red. This year’s high dental bills for one of the kids costing thousands of dollars over benefits provided through the union.

She’s also careful to put money away for her children’s education.

“It really feels like we’re treading water,” she says. “I know a lot of people must be in the same position, but it’s very scary. All I want to do is raise my kids and have a little bit of money extra for later. But I worry I won’t have that money.”

[UpperDeck]

http://www.theglobea...article2200025/

....and I'm of the view that CUPE National ordered the last strike notice given precisely to get the minister to take the action she did. CUPE knows its got a runaway, knows that a strike, after an initial period of chaos, could get very ugly for the members who might then oust CUPE at the first legal opportunity.

You make these statements without hesitation or apparent doubt in the face of contradictory information which has already been disclosed and yet---no one holds you to account. Why?

As has been repeatedly stated on this forum, CUPE recommended acceptance of Tentative Agreement number one. The membership overwhelmingly rejected that recommendation. CUPE national participated in the "road shows" to sell Tentative Agreement #2. There were numerous bulletins to flight attendants asserting that there would be no further negotiations and that their option was to "accept or strike" and that any strike or even the likelihood of strike would result in government intervention.

You assert; "CUPE ordered the last strike notice...." This is simply untrue. Do you care?

Paragraph 9 of the Sept. 20th MOA is express; "If not ratified, the Union will provide the Company with seventy-two (72) hours notice of a strike within twenty-four (24) hours of knowledge of the ratification vote results." It was a term of the agreement between the company and the union which I am advised was suggested by the conciliators and company. I already referenced that fact in an earlier post.

In my opinion, CUPE should NOT have agreed to the insertion of that provision nor to the preceding paragraph #8; "In submitting this Agreement for ratification, the Union shall give members the choice between ratification or declaring a strike seventy-two (72) hours following the results of the ratification process being known."

The flight attendants never had a chance to say; "We don't agree with the bargaining proposals of our committee. We want to change the composition of the committee and then resume negotiations."

They were simply told; "Take this or woe betide you."

[chockalicious]

If I am reading this right she makes 46K for working 4 weekends a month which include 24 hours of a layover and leaving YVR late on Friday night.

This is roughly the equivalent of making $23/hour at a full time 40 hour per week job. I know that there are other issues as well that the article does not delve into but I am not sure that this is going to create a lot of empathy for the FA cause. There are lots of divorced mothers and fathers who would snap up that deal in a heartbeat.

[Kip Powick]

No mention of perdiem................. or alimony as well...

[CD]

That article was brought up in a thread over on FT ... and dismissed by several members:

She works on weekends only and during those times gets a full day off in places most people never get to go. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

She can't "sacrifice" working more then 12 days a month ?? Wow....

46k/year by working 10 days a month, and we are supposed to feel sorry for her?

Then, there was the "Facts" post that started that whole thread:

FlyerTalk: Facts about Air Canada flight attendants