Air Transat’s flight attendants have rejected the latest tentative agreement.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said yesterday that CUPE’s Air Transat Component announced that its 2,100 flight attendant members rejected the tentative agreement reached last month.

At the end of a five-session general assembly process followed by a 10-day voting period, 81.9% of them voted no, with 88.7% participating in the vote. Remuneration for hours worked on the ground before takeoff and after landing as well as the question of onboard staffing were the main sticking points.

The voting process also included a question on whether to renew the strike mandate which had expired on Jan. 23. The members voted 94.6% in favour of a new mandate, which will remain in effect until April 1, 2024.

The parties will return to the negotiating table quickly to resume discussions.

The union said it will not issue any further comments on the refusal of the tentative agreement, to prioritize the resumption of negotiations.

The previous collective agreement for these flight attendants, based at airports in Montreal (YUL) and Toronto (YYZ), expired on Oct.31, 2022. Negotiations began on April 27, 2023.

On Nov. 27, during general assemblies, the flight attendants adopted a strike mandate by a nearly unanimous vote of 99.8%, by far the highest tally in the history of CUPE’s Air Transat Component.

On Dec. 14, an initial tentative agreement was reached. On Jan. 2, the union announced that flight attendants had voted 98.1% to reject it, with 87% of members participating in the vote.

The second deal included “significant improvements to the work contract as well as generous and competitive salary increases,” said Air Transat spokeswoman Andréan Gagné.

“We are disappointed it was rejected for a second time. We are returning to the bargaining table and our objective remains to find a mutually satisfactory agreement as soon as possible,” said chief communications officer Julie Lamontagne.

Also last month, Air Transat issued a helpful Q&A for travel advisors dealing with questions from clients as negotiations continue between the union and the airline.

With file from The Canadian Press

Source: Travelweek