VANCOUVER, British Columbia–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Canada’s flight attendants are welcoming newly-appointed Transport Minister Omar Alghabra to his new post, and are urging him to take immediate action to support their industry, which has been ravaged by COVID-19.
In a letter sent to Alghabra on Thursday, the President of the Airline Division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Wesley Lesosky, asks the new transport minister to work with labour to avoid more job losses in the sector.
Lesosky also noted the federal government’s troubling pattern of ignoring concerns from workers in the industry so far during the pandemic which has exacerbated job losses and made flying less safe.
“Our repeated attempts to engage your department and the federal government in general on critical issues for the airline industry have been almost universally ignored,” wrote Lesosky. “To be successful in reviving this critical industry, we need more collaboration and consultation with the federal government, not less.”
CUPE’s Airline Division represents 15,000 flight attendants at nine different airlines in Canada.
You can read a full copy of the letter HERE.