The union representing customer service and ticket sales agents at Air Canada has gone on strike after failing to reach a new agreement with the country's biggest airline.
Air Canada said on Tuesday that a collective agreement had not been reached with the Canadian Auto Workers union, which represents 3,800 employees in call centres and at airports across Canada.
Air Canada, however, will continue to operate its full schedule despite the strike and said it was ready to resume discussions at any time to achieve a negotiated settlement.
"In the interim, we have implemented a contingency plan involving more than 1,700 managers to assist at airports and call centres. We will continue to operate our full schedule, and all bookings will be honoured," chief operating officer Duncan Dee said in a statement.
More than 22,000 Air Canada employees remain on duty, including over 1,700 managers to help customers, the carrier said.
CAW had served Air Canada with 72 hours notice of a strike on Friday after 10 weeks of negotiations failed to produce a deal.
The union said in a statement on Tuesday that a key sticking point in negotiations was Air Canada's proposed changes to the company's pension plan.
The carrier wants to do away with its defined benefit pension plan for new hires as it looks for ways to reduce its deep pension deficit, which stood at CAD$2.1 billion (USD$2.14 billion) at the start of 2011.
Air Canada is also in talks with four other unions, including its pilots, flight attendants and maintenance workers, after their contracts expired earlier this year.
It reached a tentative agreement with the pilots' union earlier this year, but its members last month rejected the deal, sending the union and airline back to the bargaining table.
Air Canada's proposal to start up a low-cost carrier to fly to destinations in Europe and elsewhere has also met with resistance from some employees who oppose the lower pay scale the carrier wants to create at such a venture.
(Reuters)
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