Air Canada cancels all flights as flight attendants go on strike

TORONTO (AP) – Air Canada, more than 10,000 Air Canada flight officials, after a final delivery date to reach an agreement, Strike’a early Doyurady’ya suspended all the operations and travels around the world left the most intense summer travel season.

Canadian Public Employees Association spokesman Hugh Pouliot confirmed that the strike started after no agreement has not been reached, and the airline said it would stop the operations soon.

A bitter contract struggle between Canada’s largest airline and the union representing 10,000 of the flight officials rejected the airline’s request for arbitration to the state on Friday, which will allow a strike and a third -party vehicle to decide the conditions of a new contract.

Flight officials went out of work around EDT around 1 o’clock on Saturday. At the same time, Air Canada said he would start locking flight officials from the airports.

Federal Business Minister Patty Hajdu met with both the airline and the Union on Friday night, and called on them to work more to “once and for everyone”.

Hajdu, in a statement published on social media, “so little progress has been made unacceptable. Canadians are relying on both sides to reveal their best efforts,” he said.

Union spokesman Pouliot said that the union had a meeting with representatives from Hajdu and Air Canada early on Friday evening.

“Cupe, although Air Canada has not been able to resist our last two offers since Tuesday, he dealt with the mediator to convey our desire to continue bargaining,” he said. “We are here to make an agreement, not to go on strike.”

It will have a complete closure effect Approximately 130,000 people per dayAnd approximately 25,000 Canadians may be stranded abroad. Air Canada makes about 700 flights a day.

The 21 -year -old Montreal residents were saving for European holidays since Alex Laroche and his girlfriend Noel. Now, with unpaid accommodation and $ 8,000 travels, Air Canada, Nice on Saturday night, even waiting to hear about the fate of his flights to France.

Mark Nasr, the Officer of Air Canada, said that after a temporary agreement has been reached, it may take up to a week, he said.

According to Air Canada, passengers affected by travel will be suitable for request to request full refund on the airline’s website or mobile application.

The airline said it would offer alternative travel options through other Canada and foreign airlines when possible. However, the flights in other airlines have already warned that they cannot guarantee reservation immediately, as they are already full of “summer travel summit”.

Laroche said he was thinking of booking new flights with a different carrier, but most of them were almost full and that they paid for their original tickets more than twice the $ 3,000.

“At this point, this is just a waiting game,” he said.

Laroche said he was upset about the union’s decision to go on strike, but after reading the key issues at the center of contract negotiations, including wages, he made a heart change.

“Wages can be barely livable, Lar Laroche said.

Air Canada and Canada Public Employees Union have been involved in the contract meeting for nearly eight months, but they have not yet reached a temporary agreement.

Both sides say that they are separated from payment and that the unpaid business flight officials do when the planes are not in the air.

The last offer of the airline included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions for four years.

However, the union pushed it back, the first year, the proposed 8% increase did not go further due to inflation, he returned. ___

Associated Press Airlines writer Rio Yamat reported from Las Vegas.