‘Air Canada Pandemic Bonus Scheme Is Shameless, Morally Bankrupt’: CUPE

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The union representing flight attendants at Air Canada says the corporate’s choice to pay out lavish govt bonuses whereas lobbying for a bailout and shedding tens of hundreds of employees is shameless and morally bankrupt.

“Paying out hundreds of thousands in govt bonuses whereas they kick their employees to the curb and ask the taxpayer to bail them out isn’t simply mistaken, it’s morally bankrupt,” stated Mark Hancock, Nationwide President of the Canadian Union of Public Staff (CUPE). “This firm has been taking the federal authorities for a trip and it’s our members and the Canadian public who’re paying the value. It’s gone time for Justin Trudeau to get a grip on this case.”

It was revealed Monday that Air Canada’s high executives and managers had obtained $10 million of COVID-19-specific bonuses and particular share buy choices in 2020, at the same time as the corporate laid off tens of hundreds of employees, denied them entry to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), after which lobbied the federal authorities efficiently for a $5.9 billion help bundle.

“This has been a protracted and troublesome 12 months for our members, however this really appears like we’re being kicked once we’re already down,” stated Wesley Lesosky, President of the Air Canada Part of CUPE. “Our employer turned their again on us, they refused to present us the lifeline the federal government provided via CEWS, after which they lined their very own pockets. It’s simply shameless. What makes it even worse is the federal authorities has simply sat there and let all of it occur.”

CUPE represents roughly 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, the overwhelming majority of whom have been laid off because the pandemic grounded most flights in March 2020.