Air Canada attendants ratify contract 10% raise over 44 months Canadian Press Monday, December 30, 2002 OTTAWA -- After a year of negotiations involving a mediator, Air Canada fight attendants have approved a 44-month contract that includes wage increases totalling 10 per cent - and finally puts them in the same fold as former employees of Canadian Airlines. The 8,500 flight attendants, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, ratified the new collective agreement in voting that ended Monday. The attendants currently make about $37,000 a year on average, depending on flight time. "Air Canada flight attendants have won major gains in wages, job security, benefits and pensions," CUPE national president Judy Darcy said in a release. "Equally important, the contract goes some distance in recognizing their vital role as safety professionals and the public face of the airline." Achieved with the help of mediator George Adams, it's the first contract to cover all flight attendants at Canada's biggest carrier (TSX:AC) since it merged with Canadian Airlines International in 2000. About 3,500 of the attendants worked for CAI and have been receiving annual raises that were negotiated before the merger. That fact had created tensions with long-time Air Canada employees. In fact, a huge union local election was declared null and void in early December over a poisoned environment that involved voting irregularities in November 2001. The election will be restaged in January. "Moving everyone to one collective agreement was something that we saw as being key in terms of moving forward the whole question of building greater cohesion between the two groups," spokesman Robert Fox said in an interview. Seventy-seven per cent of eligible employees voted on the proposed contract. Sixty-eight per cent of those who voted were in favour while 32 per cent were opposed, said Fox. The new contract - effective until August 2004 - could be reopened if other unions negotiate more raises, the union said, and it also strengthens job security. "This agreement guarantees there will be no involuntary layoffs, base closures or relocations," Darcy said. The agreement also sets out contract provisions for ZIP, Air Canada's discount carrier, and improves pensions for former Canadian Airlines flight attendants. In addition, it includes a $25.8-million bonus for flight attendants who worked for Air Canada at the time of the merger. The union said the mediator awarded the bonus because flight attendants were the only employee group with Air Canada that had not received a bonus at that time. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) : escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: www.tobagoweddings.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************