Air Canada flight attendant strike averted

A threatened Wednesday strike by 6,800 Air Canada flight attendants was averted with a deal that now faces a ratification vote, their union said. The airline, based in Montreal, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in negotiations since April over wages, pensions and working conditions, and were hours away from a strike Wednesday afternoon when the deal was announced. Union spokesman Jeff Taylor told reporters details wouldn't be revealed until workers voted on the deal over a 17-day period, Postmedia News said. Taylor said the union was encouraging members to accept the deal. "We're pretty confident that we have a good deal -- it's everything that pretty much they (employees) were asking us to bring to them," Taylor said. Pressure over reaching a deal and avoiding a strike at the country's biggest airline was stepped up Monday when Conservative Labor Minister Lisa Raitt announced she would invoke back-to-work legislation as soon as a strike began.