Aeroplan workers ratify contract after joining Air Canada
About 400 Aeroplan workers have ratified a collective agreement that standardizes wages for employees of the newly acquired loyalty program.
Unifor says workers hired after 2016 were being paid less, but will now see a roughly 60 per cent increase in compensation over the course of the five-year agreement.
The union says the deal also includes gains in wages, benefits and job commitment provisions for the 400 employees, who work in Quebec and British Columbia.
Unifor continues to negotiate with Air Canada on behalf of 5,600 customer sales and service agents as well as customer relations representatives and crew schedulers.
In January Air Canada completed its purchase of Aeroplan from Aimia Inc., about half of whose 1,500 employees moved to the airline as a result of the transaction.
The deal marked a reunion for Aeroplan and Air Canada, which spun off the points program in 2005 under a restructuring.
It also meant better access to customer data for Air Canada — Aeroplan has about five million members — and positioned the Montreal-based airline to compete against the PC Optimum loyalty program run by Loblaw Companies Ltd., which boasts about 16 million members.
