Air Canada says soaring fuel costs are forcing the company to cut at least 2,000 jobs and reduce its capacity, and more jobs could be lost if prices keep rising.
"There are no assurances at all that this is the end (of job cuts)," Lesley Swan, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, told CTV's Mike Duffy Live on Tuesday.
"On the contrary, they indicated this might just be the beginning."
Her union represents roughly 25 per cent of the employees who will be out of work.
"They are very, very upset. Devastated. This will impact our junior members who are just starting their careers," she said. "They're at the bottom of the wage scale and they're the ones with the mortgages."
The cuts stem from a seven per cent reduction in capacity in the airline's fall and winter schedule, which means less staff will be needed.
On its website, the Montreal-based company claims to have the equivalent of 23,900 full-time employees, with an average of 1,370 scheduled flights per day in 2007. Cutting 2,000 jobs equates to about an eight per cent cut. More...
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