Air Canada reaches tentative deal with striking workers

Air Canada staff are headed back to work on Friday morning after the union representing its customer service staff reached a tentative agreement with the airline.

"We have a unanimous tentative agreement recommended by the bargaining committee," Canadian Auto Workers union president Ken Lewenza told reporters at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

"It was a tough battle," he said, adding that the union was "reasonably successful" in the bargaining process.

The sticky issue of pensions is now partly resolved. Existing employees will not see a change in their benefit plan, Lewenza said, but a different plan for new hires will have to be hammered out with the help of a mediator.

"There's no question we would have preferred to win it at the bargaining table," Lewenza said.

The new agreement, which will last four years, will be presented to the union membership for ratification in the next four or five days.

It trumps a move by the government to table back-to-work legislation on Thursday. The law, which will not be debated, would have forced picketers back to work by early next week and forced an arbitrated settlement.

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Source: Ottawa Citien