Today It’s Flight Attendants. Tomorrow, It’s You.

I am disappointed in the federal government’s decision to order striking Air Canada flight attendants back to work by imposing binding arbitration on August 16 less than 12 hours into the strike. This is a flagrant disrespect and violation of the Charter rights of over 10,000 Canadian workers.

It is no secret that the job of a flight attendant is largely a labour of love. It is a tough job with long irregular hours and low pay yet many thousands still flock to it every year. That does not mean flight attendants should not be given basic decency and respect for their work and time. As it stands right now, flight attendants only get paid while the plane is in the air. They do not get paid for hours of work done on the ground between flights including essential preparations required to do their jobs and helping passengers. The union’s main demands are for flight attendants to be compensated for their currently unpaid labour and higher pay to keep up with inflation.

In 2024, Air Canada generated record revenue of $22.25 billion and a profit of $1.72 billion earning a 7.7% profit margin. That profit margin is higher than Lufthansa (3.7%), Air-France KLM (5.1%), United Airlines (5.5%) and Delta Airlines (5.6%). In North America, it is the 6^th largest airline by passengers carried per year, and the largest by all metrics in Canada. The airline is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange with a market value of almost $6 billion. This is not some small regional airline or a new upstart (not that it would make it ok to underpay employees), Air Canada is a world class airline that stacks up with among the best and most profitable airlines in the world. The least this company can do is bargain in good faith and try to resolve this matter equitably without resorting to intervention from the federal government.

There is something deeply wrong on principle of the idea of the federal government stepping in to interfere in collective bargaining negotiations and thereby trampling over the Charter rights of collective bargaining afforded to all Canadians. It creates a bad precedent whereby when a company expects the government to step in given the essential service the company provides, it has no incentive to bargain in good faith.

The government should side with the working class and with labour, with the people who really make our world run instead of with corporations. Unfortunately, governments at all levels in Canada but particularly the federal government have a history of siding routinely with corporations and doing their bidding. This has to end because it is antithetical to the purpose of a representative government.

The main takeaway here is that we are all part of the labour movement; whether we accept it or not, we are connected and benefit from each other. A labour win in one industry or sector is a win for everyone in other industries and sectors, as it has ripple effects across the economy. It is exactly why corporations and capitalists are so scared and hesitant to ever give an inch to any labour movement because they know effects will ripple across industries which will lead to a perceived reduction in their influence and power.

We must also remember that it is not a right if it can be taken away when it becomes inconvenient. The purpose of a labour strike is to make it inconvenient for a corporation and for those that the corporation serves, towards good faith bargaining. A strike is never a union’s first choice but often the last choice after a protracted, largely hidden out of public sight, negotiation process (this one was on going since at least March of this year).  

Today, it is these Air Canada flight attendants but tomorrow it could be you. We need to stand together whether it affects us today or not because it will affect us all tomorrow. This is about class struggle, more than anything else; the media and corporate propaganda will try to divide us by pitting us against each other but all that does is makes us all lose. It is a race to the bottom but we should rise above it by sticking together and supporting each other as we demand a good quality of life for all.