Sunwing flight attendants ratify first ever collective agreement
28 mars 2013
Montreal,
Thursday March 28, 2013 – Union representatives travelled
across the country presenting the tentative agreement to more than
900 Sunwing flight attendants and the result is a resounding
success: 92% voted in favour of accepting the deal.
“Negotiations were not always easy, but we are proud to say we have
met our objective. Working conditions at Sunwing have risen to meet
standards common in the airline industry,” said Mark Brancelj,
President of the union for Sunwing flight attendants (CUPE 4055).
“This collective agreement covers the next three and a half years
and salary raises range from 3% to 12%, with an average of 8%!”
Other significant gains worth mentioning are
the creation of a pension plan, a substantial improvement to the
sick leave bank and the implementation of a premium for flight
attendants working an extended duty day over 14 hours. “The gains
we have made bring us in line with every important airline in
Canada,” added Mark Bracelj.
This is the first collective agreement for Sunwing flight
attendants, who voted to join the Canadian Union of Public
Employees (CUPE) in March 2012.
“With this new contract, Sunwing acknowledges the importance of
flight attendants” said Caroline Bedard, the CUPE representative
for the file. “The union was able to demonstrate and convince the
employer of the great significance of the profession. Sunwing
recognizes that they do not only serve coffee, but more
importantly, they ensure passenger security.”
CUPE is Canada’s largest airline union. In addition to its Sunwing
members, CUPE represents nearly 10,000 flight attendants at a
number of carriers, including Air Canada, Air Transat, Calm Air,
Canadian North, CanJet, 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.
