Passengers were left stranded at Canada's Winnipeg International Airport in Manitoba as flight cancellations continued Sunday amid a strike by Air Canada flight attendants for higher wages.
The strike, which began in the early hours of Saturday, involves over 10,000 flight attendants and has grounded all Air Canada flights. The labor dispute stems from months of unsuccessful negotiations between Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) regarding wages and benefits.
"We are here now on the picket line and we're on strike for fair pay, a fair contract and fair wages," said Gina McKay, president of CUPE Manitoba.
Earlier on Sunday, Air Canada announced plans to resume flights by evening. However, with employees still on strike as of Sunday afternoon, the airlines had to postpone the resumption until Monday evening.
Air Canada stated that it had gradually reduced daily flight schedule following CUPE's strike notice released on Aug 13. But the ongoing strike is impacting an estimated 100,000 passengers every day.
On Sunday, many travelers were stranded at airports, uncertain about when they will be able to reach their destinations.
"We stayed here [for] one week. Now we [came] to this airport to check in and they said that 'we have canceled all our flights,'" said a traveler.
"Ultimately it comes down to labor versus management and generally in those disputes it's a third party that's going to get affected by it. I'm not happy by any stretch, especially now when students are trying to go back to school. It's bad timing, but at some point there's going to be casualties in this and it tends to be the passengers," said another traveler.
Air Canada flight attendants' strike continues, disrupting travel for thousands
Air Canada flight attendants' strike continues, disrupting travel for thousands
