On Friday, the Union representing the ticketing and customer agents of Air Canada gave the administration their 72-hour notice of strike. They served it after the negotiations between two parties failed to agree on the terms of the new labor contract.

The CAW or the Canadian Auto Workers Union announced that all of their workers will walk out of their work at exactly 11:59 PM Easter Standard Time today (June 13, 2011) unless both parties come to a unilateral agreement before the said time. The CAW has more or less 3,800 members of Air Canada airport employees and call center agents across Canada.

The Canadian Auto Workers Union said in a statement that after ten weeks of negotiation with the administration, there are still major issues that is yet to be settled. These issues are said to be stopping progress in the negotiation. An example of those issues is the dramatic cuts to the employees’ pension plans.

Air Canada is the biggest airline in Canada and they carry thousands of people every day. The company said in a statement that they are continually negotiating with Canadian Auto Workers Union but has devised a back-up plan should all else fail. The company is confident that they have enough manpower to continue operations. They said they will try their best that none of their flights will be disrupted due to the strike.

Air Canada is currently on negotiation with five unions within its company including that of pilots and flight attendants. The negotiations started after the contracts expired beginning of this year.