Air Canada employees serve strike notice

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by DementedReality

i used to travel 20-30 times a year and thought AC was terrrible!

ever since they installed those entertainment systems and upgraded their aircraft, i must admit they are far better to fly on then WestJet.

Way more seat room and far more comfortable. Still crappy service from the miserable employee's though.

I agree...their upgraded planes are really comfortable now, much better than Westjet. I recently flew to England on an Air Canada flight and it was actually really good.

I still think the service could be better but ive noticed an improvement the last few years.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

They were saying that the employees are a bit peeved that they want to cut pensions when the employees themselves have contributed a billion dollars to the pension fund over the past few years.

When you have CEO's and managment taking huge bonuses, than wanting to cut the pension of employees, that won't go over well.

But they're not cutting the pension for the employees that have contributed billions of dollars, they're cutting the pension for new employees and creating a legacy plan for any employees that were part of the DB Plan.

Actually - reread the article and maybe they are, but it doesn't go in to much detail.
Other changes could slash defined-benefit pension payments to recipients by roughly 40 per cent, the union asserts.

DC Plans are the way every employer is going nowadays - it benefits the employee too because they're not locked in working with the same employer for the rest of their life - Unions better get used to it.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Lee of Red

You can often fly on the Canadian Affair affiliates to Europe for less than Westjet to Toronto or Montreal.

Air travel in Canada is utter madness.

I dont consider charters like Cook, Transat, Condor to be and appropriate way to travel for that long a flight, tried it once, will never try it again to save a few hundred.

The only reason you get those low prices is they are charging high package prices from Europe and any money coming from Canada to Europe is just a way to pay the fuel bill.

[Lee of Red]

They have seats and they fly and they are cheap. Don't really see how that's not appropriate.

[3 Justin 3]

I don't find them too bad.

Air Transat is terrible though. I will never forgive them for feeding me Superstore food (Curry Chicken, I hate curry, it was a microwavable meal) on my 7 hour flight to Europe, then giving me a cold, nearly frozen muffin.

[TorqueDog]

Great. First time in ages I decide to fly Air Canada over WestJet and this happens.

F#&$ I hate unions.

[Lee of Red]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

I don't find them too bad.

Air Transat is terrible though. I will never forgive them for feeding me Superstore food (Curry Chicken, I hate curry, it was a microwavable meal) on my 7 hour flight to Europe, then giving me a cold, nearly frozen muffin.

Yeah there's no denying that. The food on Transat and Thomas Cook would gag a buzzard.

[Crazy Bacon Legs]

I haven't used Air Canada for about 10 years; ever since a flight attendant on a flight made a derisive noise and rolled her eyes at me because I had the gall to ask for some water.

My previous experiences were not much different. Haughty, rude employees with a chip on their shoulder. I have gone out of my way to avoid them ever since.

[Yasa]

The last AC flight I was on (It was AC Jazz) the flight attendant had a passenger call her roommate to tell them the flight was going to be delayed. I thought that was pretty unusual.

[Delthefunky]

I worked as a baggage handler @ Yyc for a few years and it was the best job ever. Pay was good (I mean come on, a baggage handler??), the benefits though, Augh I miss them so much! I flew somewhere new every month...

Anyways, I would agree with most people here in that they don't deserve much more then they're getting. Management IS terrible, and the service (gate agents/Inflight) are embarrassing. They feel entitled to not lift a finger. There's some good ones and bad ones, but I've had my own experiences with old crusty flight attendants and gate agents. Seriously like scan my ticket and let me on board.

[chemgear]

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

"The gains that we made as a unionized workforce at Air Canada have to be maintained. It's not our fault that we had a global financial crisis," Ken Lewenza, president of the Canadian Auto Workers, told CTV News Channel on Saturday.


Hmmm, I'd imagine that all the people who lost their job/house/investments also felt that it was not "their fault" there was a global financial crisis - fat load of good it did them . . .

[CaptainCrunch]

Air Canada is one of the worst run companies out there, and the Union acts like a self entitled parasite where the workers don't contribute to the betterment of the company.

I blame the management for their greed in terms of their bonus structures, and I blame the workers for making flying Air Canada a completely un enjoyable service where the stewardesses are surely and don't seem to understand their job description.

There's a reason why Westjet is eating Air Canada's lunch even though Air Canada has every advantage.

And Ken Lewenza is an A%%. I have little respect for the CAW union I have less respect about the fact that the CAW seems to think its a political organization with little understanding of economic realities.

I refuse to fly Air Canada, I get better value for my money with other airlines.

[Dion]

"The gains that we made as a unionized workforce at Air Canada have to be maintained. It's not our fault that we had a global financial crisis," Ken Lewenza, president of the Canadian Auto Workers, told CTV News Channel on Saturday.

Typical union BS! They say it's not thier fault during down times but greedily want a share of the profits when times are good.

[NBC]

I'm flying back to YYC from Heathrow 3 in a few hours. I wonder what the atmosphere is going to be like?

[drewboy12]

Meanwhile, the union says shareholders and top-executives are only making more money.

- http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...b=EdmontonHome


I think the share holders may disagree with a drop from $20/share to less then $2/share within the last 5 years.... Just saying.

[CaptainCrunch]

When have unions ever been truthful when they're making their case.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

When have unions ever been truthful when they're making their case.

Unions are more than willing to lie and sacrifice the little guy at the bottom if it means the dues keep coming in. AC employees I know actually hate the union, don't want to be part of it but can't get out of it obviously.

The sense of entitlement at the unions and a lot of their membership is phenomal and really they don't serve a purpose other than keeping the fat, lazy and stupid around while sucking the soul out of the harder working employees. One job my relative did there were three managers/supervisor types just standing around doing nothing but critisizing and making sure things were done within guidelines/otherwise micromanaging when only one guy was doing any actual work. AC is horribly run, unfricking believable sometimes. They need to clean up the board, crush and get rid of the union and fire the lazy employees

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Mad Mel

Good. Stay on strike until that third-world airline goes tits-up.

Air Canada's CEO at the time, Robert Milton, pocketed $86 million – while thousands of front-line employees were forced to take cuts, to the tune of about $10,000 per year, including an erosion of real wages, lost vacation, paid lunch breaks and other benefits.

With the company’s return to profitability in 2010 and a brighter future on the horizon, Air Canada’s demands for more cuts, fewer full-time jobs, and outsourcing appear baseless. It’s made worse by CEO Calin Rovinescu’s hefty 76 per cent pay hike that landed him $4.55 million in compensation last year, a defined benefit pension that would pay him $351,000 per year at age 65, and a $5 million retention bonus he would be paid just for staying on the job until March 2012. His insistence that workers accept less reeks of hypocrisy.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Air Canada's CEO at the time, Robert Milton, pocketed $86 million – while thousands of front-line employees were forced to take cuts, to the tune of about $10,000 per year, including an erosion of real wages, lost vacation, paid lunch breaks and other benefits.

With the company’s return to profitability in 2010 and a brighter future on the horizon, Air Canada’s demands for more cuts, fewer full-time jobs, and outsourcing appear baseless. It’s made worse by CEO Calin Rovinescu’s hefty 76 per cent pay hike that landed him $4.55 million in compensation last year, a defined benefit pension that would pay him $351,000 per year at age 65, and a $5 million retention bonus he would be paid just for staying on the job until March 2012. His insistence that workers accept less reeks of hypocrisy.

Air Canada is rotten to the core. What a shame.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

For me:

Domestically AC is #2
To Europe AC is #2 after only BA and AC is very competitively priced.
To South America they are #1 but you have to go to YYZ to fly down.
To Asia they are #3 IMO.

I'm not sure to Asia they're even in the top 10. What are your top 2? Cathay and JAL? I really liked China Airlines as well.. I may try EVA next time. The services on Asian airlines is always good. I got free beer!