The results of the Ratification Vote are as follows:

Percentage of YES votes: 0.9%
Percentage of NO votes: 99.1%

Percentage of the Membership that voted: 94.6%

As many members are likely aware, we have received the ratification results for the Agreed to Items and the employers wage proposal. It was a resounding “NO” from the membership. This means that the outstanding wage issue will proceed to mediation and Interest Arbitration, with Arbitrator Paula Knopf.

We have heard from many of you regarding Air Canada’s recent bulletins about the implementation of certain Collective Agreement articles. While some of the information they shared is accurate, we strongly disagree with their proposed implementation timelines and have already filed grievances on those matters.

In their second bulletin, Air Canada wrote:

“On September 12, 2025, CUPE asked to skip the mediation phase and proceed directly to the arbitration phase instead. Air Canada was fully committed to being at the table for both the mediation and arbitration and we were surprised by this request. After consideration, we’ve agreed to CUPE’s request. We have also recently agreed with CUPE to appoint Arbitrator Paula Knopf as the arbitrator and will confirm dates in the near future.”

We must respond. Air Canada’s suggestion that they were “surprised” is misleading. Mediation can only work if both parties approach it in good faith, with a genuine desire to find resolution. Throughout negotiations, it became increasingly clear to us that Air Canada had no intention of meaningfully addressing wages. The proposals they put forward fell far short of what our members deserve and what other bargaining units had already achieved.

We backed up our position with solid data, industry comparisons, and clear evidence of the value you bring to this company every single day. Despite this, the employer consistently refused to engage. Instead, they walked away once the issue of wages was on the table, fully aware that Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code would allow them to force the matter into interest arbitration. This was not about surprise. It was a calculated strategy, openly admitted by CEO Michael Rousseau in his interview with BNN, which can be found HERE.

Adding insult to injury, Air Canada has even gone so far as to release a “wage calculator”. This is nothing more than a public relations tactic aimed at minimizing your work and building sympathy for their refusal to pay us fairly. We will not be swayed by spin. At interest arbitration, we will present the facts and the realities of what our members earn. We will fight for the wages you are entitled to with the excellent legal counsel and advisors we have retained.

We are now preparing our case with Arbitrator Paula Knopf. A case management meeting is scheduled in the coming days, and we will share updates with you as soon as possible.

We must also address Air Canada’s September 20, 2025 “In-Flight Service” bulletin titled “Reassurance regarding CUPE’s recent bulletin”, which can be found HERE. In it, they claim: “We have not and will not discipline employees for strike-related activity.” Unfortunately, our experience on the ground tells a very different story.

Since the strike, we have seen a sharp increase in performance and attendance meetings, many of them directly tied to comments members made on Facebook or related to labour unrest. Local offices report that performance meetings have tripled or even quadrupled. This surge in disciplinary action is no coincidence, it is a deliberate attempt to intimidate members and foster a climate of fear.

We note that Rouge management, in contrast, has not engaged in this punitive approach. Instead, they have taken steps toward rebuilding trust with their employees through engagement and support. This shows us what is possible when management chooses collaboration over intimidation.

Your union will continue to challenge these unfair practices. We will also keep up the broader fight to end unpaid work in our sector, because our struggle is a collective one. Together, we will prevail.


Many members have asked about the mediation portion as the Company noted this in a recent release, this is a normal process where the mediator/ arbitrator will attempt to get the two sides to agree to an outcome, the mediation process is one where a third party will assist but can not impose. This is much like the process we went through in bargaining, where we had 4 federally appointed mediators. Your Union has been clear; arbitration is where we will end up and the company has not come forward with a wage proposal we can accept. Your Union is not willing to accept less than what our counterparts in Canada make, we are not willing to agree wages that will keep our members under the poverty line, and for this we see that arbitration is where we will end up.

As a part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that you have an educated view of what happens next, we have provided a brief primer on Interest Arbitration.

Interest arbitration is a process by which an arbitrator determines what the parties might have eventually settled for had they reached an agreement themselves. In doing so, the interest arbitrator is guided by the following principles:

Replication: the objective of fashioning an award that, to the extent possible, replicates the settlement the parties would have reached had the dispute been allowed to run its full course. In this regard, interest arbitrators look to benchmarks in the community (in our case to other major Canadian corporations and to the airline industry) and to the bargaining history between the parties.
The principle of gradualism reflects the reality that collective bargaining between mature bargaining parties, as these are, is a continuum that most often accomplishes gradual change as distinct from drastic change. It follows that absent compelling evidence, an interest arbitrator will be loath to award "breakthrough" items.
The principle of demonstrated need provides a counterbalance to the principle of gradualism. It does so by establishing the basis upon which an arbitrator will award a “breakthrough” item, something they are generally reluctant to award. A party seeking a major or even a radical change must convincingly establish the need for such change, hence the term demonstrated need.

The Parties do not have control over what the arbitrator determines: the interest arbitrator decides the content of a collective agreement, and with limited exceptions, there is no possibility of judicially reviewing their decision.

Wage Increase
As per the agreement between the Parties reached on August 19, 2025, the only item advancing to interest arbitration is the unratified wage issue. The other agreed items form part of the new collective agreement.

Wages are typically among the highest priorities in each round of collective bargaining. In interest arbitration, arbitrators often evaluate wage and compensation proposals holistically, considering the full range of remuneration provided to employees.

Both internal comparators (i.e. within the same organization) and external comparators (i.e. similar positions in other companies) may be considered in the analysis. We will continue to reply on the expertise we have in costing, data analysis, legal and labour to ensure we have all the facts needed to represent our arguments and needs for solid increases, across the wage grid.

An onboard crew break is the time allocated to eat meals and/or relax during the flight.

As of June 4, 2024, due to changes to the Canada Labour Code, employees are entitled to a break of 30 minutes during every period of 5 consecutive hours of work. The break can be divided into two periods of 15 minutes. Existing standards regarding onboard breaks (e.g., when/where they can be taken) apply to these breaks.

Please note that this new legislative change will only apply to flights that do not have crew rest already provided for under the Collective Agreement.

The legislative changes allow Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge to split the breaks into two 15-minute periods if you are not able to take a 30-minute break.

This is a minimum standard, as per the Canada Labour Code, and every effort should be made to take your break, the reality being this may be a challenge due to service guidelines and staffing levels onboard.

The Component has set up a form (https://accomponent.ca/crew-break-concerns/) for you to report the inability to take your break, please report all compliance issues here.

You are entitled to take your onboard crew rest, Please report to the Company and the union if you are unable to complete service and/ or schedule sufficient crew rest on long range flights. Please give us a schedule of how long the service took and and any further details on flight, such as equipment failures that prolonged service, turblence, passenger issues, medicals, crew complement, etc.

------------------------------------------------------------------
LOU28 - CREW BREAKS
Flights scheduled or re-forecasted on day of departure of 7:01hrs-8:00hrs gate to gate

Cabin Crew may sleep for up to one (1) hour
Cabin Crew may sleep in last sold seats if available
If Crew Rest Unit (CRU) is available crew may only sleep in the CRU/OFAR
The service sequence may not be modified
Bunk kits will not be provisioned on aircraft with a CRU/OFAR


Flights scheduled or re-forecasted on day of departure of 8:01hrs-11:29hrs gate to gate

Cabin Crew may sleep for one (1) hour
Cabin Crew may sleep in last sold seats if available
If Crew Rest Unit (CRU) is available crew may only sleep in the CRU/OFAR
The service sequence may be modified to provide the crew their full break period
Bunk kits will be provisioned on aircraft with a CRU/OFAR for the flight(s) within the pairing that are 8:01hrs-11:29hrs

LOU 61
On A330 and A321XLR non-crew bunk equipped aircraft operating flights which have a
scheduled block to block flight time of greater than 7:30 hours but less than 11:30
hours, the Company will dedicate a bank of economy class seats for crew rest
purposes. The location of these seats will be determined by the Company.
Cabin Personnel may sleep in the bank of dedicated economy class seats for a
maximum of one (1) hour per crew member.

The use of these seats to sleep shall not in any way interfere with cabin service.

No more than two (2) Cabin Personnel may sleep at any one time. The Company shall
use best efforts to install a curtain for privacy which, if installed, must be used by Cabin
Personnel when the seats are in use. Signs or makeshift curtains are not permitted.

Letters of Understanding 27 and 28 shall not apply when dedicated crew rest seats
have been provided in accordance with the foregoing.

LOU 61

B14, LOU18, LOU22A, LOU22B, LOU 60.04.06 - CREW REST

Rest periods have been negotiated for long range flying and are as follows:
B14 two (2) hours of rest

– LOU18 a minimum of two and a half (2.5) hours of rest for a duty day up to 14:59hrs
LOU18 four (4) hours of rest for a duty day 15:00hrs or greater

– LOU22A four (4) hours of rest for a duty day up to 17:10hrs
LOU22A four and a half (4.5) hours for a duty day 17:11hrs or greater

– LOU22B five (5) hours of rest for a duty day up to 18:45hrs
– LOU22B five and a half (5.5) hours of rest for a duty day 18:46hrs or greater

The service specifications may be modified for crew to obtain their full contractual break/rest times. In such cases, the SD should submit an a report stating that the service sequence was modified so that the crew can obtain their contractual break/rest times.

Meal breaks are to be taken separately from the on board crew rest.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Company will designate the longe range flying article or LOU on a monthly basis before bidding closes. You can verify the designated article/LOU of each long range pairing in Aeronet:->Crew scheduling & planning ->Bidding tools and information ->Monthly duty summary or ->Monthly "whats new"


With the exception of (**) LOU28 flights of 7:01hrs-8:00hrs, the service specifications may need to be modified for crew to obtain their full contractual break/rest times. In such cases, the SD should submit an eOBR simply stating that the service sequence was modified so that the crew can obtain their contractual break/rest times. Ensure to share this OBR with your local union office. If there is a manager onboard, report this service modification to them.
If you are told anything different in respect to contractual crew rest by an Air Canada manager, please share this information with your local union.

For other types of flying, your break time is as follows from the Canada Labour Code.

Break

169.1 (1) Every employee is entitled to and shall be granted an unpaid break of at least 30 minutes during every period of five consecutive hours of work. If the employer requires the employee to be at their disposal during the break period, the employee must be paid for the break.
_________________________________________________________
Crew Bunk Kits


YYC
Bunk kits will be provisioned (outbound only) in YYC for flights to LHR
and bunk kits will be provisioned in LHR for flights to YYC

YVR
Bunk kits will be provisioned (outbound only) in YVR for flights to LHR
and bunk kits will be provisioned in LHR for flights to YVR

YYZ
Bunk kits will be provisioned in LHR for the LHR-BOM flights
Bunk kits will be provisioned in BOM for the BOM-LHR flights