OTTAWA, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Flight attendants for Air Canada have turned down the carrier's latest contract offer and could go on strike this week, their union said Sunday.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees said 65 percent of the flight attendants who voted rejected the tentative deal reached Sept. 20, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The union represents about 6,500 Air Canada flight attendants.
It means they could walk of the job early Thursday, the CBC said.
Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Duncan Dee said in a release that airline had been informed of the vote results.
"We are perplexed and disappointed," Dee said.
The flight attendants had voted down another offer by an even wider margin in August and last month, the government warned it would act to order the attendants back to work if they walk off the job.
"We ask the federal government, in the strongest possible terms, to respect our right to collective bargaining and not intervene unilaterally in this dispute," Jeff Taylor, president of union's branch for Air Canada flight attendants, said in a statement Sunday night.
Air Canada endured a three-day walkout in June by sales and support staff, who are represented by the Canadian Autoworkers Union.
