Monday, October 10, 2011

Media AWOL on flight attendants story

The question weighing on the minds of Canada's airline travellers this morning is: "What on earth is going on with the Air Canada flight attendants? Does Air Canada need to deploy the oxygen masks to help them see things clearly? The flight attendants have rejected two tentative contracts now, both negotiated and approved by their representatives. The union, CUPE, has won them pay raises in keeping with the economy. Sadly, the media has done a poor job of getting inside the Air Canada local so we have to surmise a bit. But it seems clear that there is militant resentment for past sacrifices made when Air Canada was bankrupt. But we have news. The airline industry is a notoriously marginal business. Further, Air Canada is under assault at home and aboard by foreign luxury airlines like Emirates, Singapore and South Korea where the flight attendants do pretty much as they are told. Call it wrong but there is nothing CUPE or the Government of Canada can do about it. Flight attendants should understand that the reward for digging in against an struggling employer is usually unemployment.

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