About 65 per cent of Unifor members at airports across the country voted in favour of the deal, which provides lump sum wage payments in the first three years and 2 per cent annual wage increases in years four and five.Matthew Sherwood/The Globe and Mail
Customer service and sales agents who work for Air Canada have approved a new five-year contract that provides lump sum wage payments in the first three years and 2 per cent annual wage increases in years four and five.
About 65 per cent of Unifor members at airports across the country voted in favour of the deal.
"Our members deserve to share in Air Canada's record profits," Jerry Dias, Unifor president, said in a statement. "This agreement secures good jobs for customer sales and service agents now and into the future."
The contract provides lump sum payments of 7.1 per cent, 5.4 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively in the first three years of the contract, said Jenny Ahn, an assistant to Mr. Dias.
The starting hourly wage rate for new hires rises to $14 an hour from $11.23 in the previous contract, Ms. Ahn said.
"We had a huge challenge where you had around 20 per cent of the membership with average three years seniority making $11.23 as their start rate," she said.
The deal with about 4,000 sales and customer service agents comes on the heels of a 10-year agreement the airline signed with its pilots last year.
"The ratification of this new contract by our customer service and sales agents provides Air Canada with added stability and flexibility to support profitable growth," Calin Rovinescu, Air Canada's chief executive officer, said in a news release.
The top salary in the previous agreement was about $43,000 a year. About 80 per cent of Unifor members at Air Canada worked through the airline during its trip through bankruptcy protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and the turbulence of the 2008-2009 recession, Ms. Ahn said.
But the key issue, which led to a breakdown in negotiations during bargaining, was a battle between Unifor and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority about outsourcing of Air Canada jobs providing assistance to wheelchair-bound passengers.
The jobs were outsourced to a non-union company, although Air Canada kept the 130 workers on its staff to do other jobs during the busy summer flying season.
Ms. Ahn said Air Canada has signed a letter that says for the next five years no airport authority will take over any work done by Air Canada employees that will lead to job losses or reductions in hours of work.