Air Transat flight attendants accept the measures requested by the company
10 mars 2013
Montreal,
Sunday, March 10, 2013 – The union representing Air Transat
flight attendants announced that its members have agreed to the
company’s proposed cost reduction plan. In a secret electronic
vote, 66% of the flight attendants accepted measures worth
approximately $9 million a year. At 72%, turnout was particularly
high.
The key element of the plan stipulates that the number of
attendants on the A330 will be reduced from 11 to 10. The savings
thus realized will help enable Air Transat to develop a narrow-body
fleet of Boeing 737s, which the union believes will allow the
company to retain more jobs in the long run.
« In recent months, we have studied the different scenarios very
closely. The flight attendants took part in a number of information
sessions, » noted Peter Buzzell, president of the Air Transat
Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
« Air Transat’s position in the industry has
been somewhat precarious for some time. For the union members, this
means making hard choices. We have accepted a sacrifice that gives
the company an opportunity to grow and maintain jobs in the long
term. Our concern for such a balance influenced our decision, » said
the union leader.
Air Transat flight attendants are emergency specialists whose
primary role is to ensure passenger safety. Approximately 1750 in
total, they are divided into three local unions corresponding to
their three bases: CUPE 4041 (Montreal-YUL), CUPE 4047
(Toronto-YYZ) and CUPE 4078 (Vancouver-YVR). The Air Transat
Component oversees these three local unions.
CUPE is Canada’s largest airline union. In addition to its Air
Transat members, CUPE represents nearly 10,000 flight attendants at
carriers including Air Canada, Sunwing, CanJet, Calm Air, Canadian
North, First Air and Cathay Pacific, as well as ground agents at
Porter Airlines in Ottawa.
CUPE is the largest union in Canada with 627,000 members working in
health, education, municipalities, libraries, universities, social
services, public utilities, urban and air transport, emergency
services and communications.
