Canada airlines evades flight attendant strike

After more than nine months of talks, Air Transat and the union representing its 1,500 flight attendants have reached a tentative labor agreement and avoided the threat of a strike, both sides said Saturday. In mid-June, flight attendants from the Canadian airline Air Transat, whose collective labor agreement expired last November, threatened to strike beginning July 20. But Friday an agreement between the company and the Canadian Union of Public Employees was reached, according to each side. "We are satisfied with this agreement," said CEO of Air Transat Allen Graham, in a statement to AFP. The tentative agreement is expected to be presented to union members in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver by the end of July, said Air Transat employees' union representative, Nathalie Stringer. "The bargaining committee will recommend approval of the agreement, and out of respect for our flight attendants, we will not comment on the content of the agreement until it has been presented to our members in a ratification vote meeting," Stringer added. According to a statement released by the Canadian company, the agreement will last five years and will come up for renewal in 2015. On June 17, flight attendants had voted 93% in favor of a strike after rejecting Air Transat's most recent offer.