Labour Minister to block Air Canada work stoppages
Posted Mar 8, 2012 7:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt announced she plans to step in to prevent any planned work stoppage at Air Canada after the company threatened to lock out its pilots beginning Sunday at 10:10 p.m.
The airline set the deadline after tabling what it called a “best and final” contract offer. Both this work stoppage and a strike deadline by Air Canada’s largest union representing its ground crew and mechanics would come just as the spring break holiday begins for thousands of families across Canada.
Earlier Thursday, the airline said it needed to bring closure to what it called a climate of labour uncertainty.
However, the union said the deal is almost identical to the one it had already rejected – with a few minor amendments – and accused the airline of negotiating out of bad faith. The Pilots Association said it would still hold a vote on the offer but advised its members to reject it.
Raitt watched both negotiations and had already considered back to work legislation for the union representing ground crew and mechanics, but did not make a comment on the lockout until Thursday afternoon. She has moved swiftly in the past to intervene in threatened work stoppages at the country’s largest airline.
Meanwhile, WestJet announced it was prepared to accommodate Air Canada passengers in the event of a strike or lockout. The airline said it would add extra flights in domestic and trans-border markets as the situation unfolds, based on available aircraft and crew.
