Close X
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
ADVT 
National

Air Canada pushing for government intervention as clock ticks on labour talks

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 12 Sep, 2024 01:15 PM
  • Air Canada pushing for government intervention as clock ticks on labour talks

Air Canada and business leaders are asking Ottawa to be ready to intervene in labour talks with its pilots as time is running out before a potential shutdown, but so far the government has said the two sides need to work things out. 

Airline spokesman Christophe Hennebelle said Thursday that Air Canada is committed to negotiations, but it faces wage demands from the Air Line Pilots Association that it can't meet. 

"The issue is that we are faced with unreasonable wage demands that ALPA refuses to moderate.”

The union has said it's corporate greed that's holding up talks, as Air Canada continues to post record profits while expecting pilots to accept below-market compensation.

Hennebelle said the airline isn't asking for immediate intervention from the government, but that it should be prepared to help avoid major disruptions from a shutdown of an airline that carries more than 110,000 passengers a day.

"The government should be ready to step in and make sure that we are not entering into that disruption for the benefit of Canadians."

The two sides will be in a position starting Sunday to issue 72-hour notice of a strike or lock out. The airline has said the notice would trigger its three-day wind down plan and start the clock on a full work stoppage as early as Sept. 18.

Numerous business groups convened in Ottawa on Thursday to also call for action — including binding arbitration — to avoid the economic disruptions a shutdown of the airline would cause. 

Arbitration "can help bring the parties to a successful resolution and avoid all the potential impacts we’re here to talk about today,” Candace Laing, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, told a news conference.

"Canada cannot afford another major disruption to its transportation network. A labour disruption at Air Canada would ripple through our economy," Goldy Hyder, chief executive of the Business Council of Canada, said in a statement.

The federal government however has said it's up to the airline and union to make a deal.

"There's no reason for these parties not to be able to achieve a collective agreement," Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said at a news conference Wednesday night after the Liberal caucus retreat.

He said the government sees forward momentum in talks and that Canadians expect both the union and airline to make the necessary compromises.

"These parties should be under no ambiguity as to what my message is to them today. Knuckle down, get a deal."

Asked why the airline would not just hold back and wait for the government to intervene as it did in the twin railway shutdowns in August, MacKinnon indicated it wasn't so simple. 

“What I would say are there are significant differences between those two situations and leave it at that."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Thursday morning the party would not support efforts to force pilots back to work.

"We're going to send a clear message again that we are opposed to Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, or any government, interfering with workers," Singh said.

"If there's any bills being proposed on back to work legislation, we're going to oppose that."

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday that Air Canada should negotiate in good faith with its pilots. 

"We're not going to support pre-empting those negotiations. We stand with the pilots and their right to fight for a fair deal, good wages."

MORE National ARTICLES

Documents show dozens of harassment, violence cases at CSIS. It deemed only 8 founded

Documents show dozens of harassment, violence cases at CSIS. It deemed only 8 founded
When Canada's spy chief wrote a secret letter to the public safety minister last December — the week after a report emerged that two young women in the service had been sexually assaulted by a senior colleague — it came with a warning. David Vigneault, then director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told Dominic LeBlanc that he expected "more cases to surface in the coming weeks," and that he had to be "transparent" about this with the minister 

Documents show dozens of harassment, violence cases at CSIS. It deemed only 8 founded

RCMP investigating body found by rural road near Calgary after fire

RCMP investigating body found by rural road near Calgary after fire
RCMP say they've put significant resources toward investigating the death of a person found after they responded to a fire by a rural road east of Calgary. Mounties were called early on Wednesday morning to a report of a fire on the side of a rural road in Rocky View County.

RCMP investigating body found by rural road near Calgary after fire

Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver

Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night. 

Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver

2 in hospital in double stabbing in Surrey

2 in hospital in double stabbing in Surrey
Surrey R-C-M-P say they are investigating a double stabbing that sent two men to hospital. R-C-M-P say officers responded to a report of a fight on September 10th at an intersection where they found two man being stabbed. 

2 in hospital in double stabbing in Surrey

Kelowna coin collection theft

Kelowna coin collection theft
The Kelowna R-C-M-P says it is looking for the rightful owner of a rare coin collection that was recovered during a traffic stop. They say the collection holds several collector's coins from over the years and police are certain someone in the community is missing them.

Kelowna coin collection theft

Mounties say there's no evidence Lytton wildfire was arson, cause unknown

Mounties say there's no evidence Lytton wildfire was arson, cause unknown
Mounties in British Columbia say there's no evidence that the devastating fire that swept through the community of Lytton more than three years ago was arson. Police have concluded their investigation into the June 2021 wildfire, saying they can't pinpoint the cause of the blaze that killed two people and wiped out much of the village and part of the First Nation, a day after a Canadian temperature record of 49.6 C was set in Lytton.

Mounties say there's no evidence Lytton wildfire was arson, cause unknown

PrevNext