On March 20, 2020, the union representing Air Canada’s flight attendants has announced that they will be temporarily laying off over 5,000 workers due to the coronavirus pandemic, as travel has been limited. This layoff includes approximately 3,600 Air Canada members and all 1,549 Air Canada Rouge members (CTV NEWS, 2020). Effective immediately, the layoffs will last at least through April, “this has been the most challenging time any of us will likely ever experience as flight attendants” said Wesley Lesosky, Air Canada Component of CUPE (CTV NEWS, 2020). He goes on by stating that “our members have been on the front lines of this crisis since day 1, and it has been a tough journey ever since. Our hearts go out to all of our members, especially those who fell sick while doing their job”. Air Canada mentioned that they do not have a final count on the number of pilots, flight attendants, technical and cargo workers and customer service agents that will be affected. However, CUPE stated that Air Canada members that are being laid-off will be able to collect employment insurance and access benefits till mid-April. (CTV NEWS, 2020). As part of the Canadian Government’s economic response plan due to the events of COVID-19, they are establishing Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), that will give Canadians a taxable benefit of $2,000 a month for four months (Government of Canada, 2020). After their employee benefits are done in mid-April, Air Canada workers will begin receiving CERB, which will greatly be affecting all employees. Many Canadian employees have expressed their concerns all over social media stating that many of them are living pay-cheque to pay-cheque and that this amount of money will not be sufficient in helping them pay their bills, buy groceries, and be able to afford their families’ needs. I believe that the Canadian government should consider the fact that not every employee at Air Canada earns the same salary, lives on their own or has a family, and that all employees are in different age brackets. The government should pay employees based on the elements aforementioned by creating a chart that lists every employees’ average salary, whether they have children or not, and whether they live in a home or an apartment. Not all Canadians are able to live-off $2000 a month, especially if they have a whole family to sustain. Furthermore, the government should keep into consideration whether some workers have children above the age of 18 who will not be needing child-benefit tax and are able to have their own jobs and afford their own lives. The CERB is a flawed system since it does not keep in mind all the different circumstances presented to them, and they should be listening to the complaints occurring on social media. This pandemic has caused many people stress and anxiety within their lives especially since they have no idea how long they will be laid-off for.
CTV News. Air Canada lays off more than 5,000 flight attendants amid COVID-19 pandemic, 2020.
Government of Canada. Government introduces Canada Emergency Response Benefit to help workers and businesses, 2020.
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