As Air Canada pilots prepare for a potential strike next week, the federal labour minister said there is “no reason” for the national carrier and union to not reach a collective agreement and that negotiations are seeing progress.
Either Air Canada or the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents 5,200 Air Canada pilots, could issue a 72-hour lockout or strike notice unless a settlement is reached by Sunday.
The 72-hour shutdown notice period could begin anytime after midnight on Sunday, with operations expected to come to a complete halt by Wednesday, Sept. 18. Air Canada has said it will begin cancelling flights and operations as soon as this Friday.
Speaking to reporters at the Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., on Wednesday, Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon said that as both parties remain at the table, there are “significant issues still to be resolved,” but there is “forward momentum.”
He urged both sides to “knuckle down and get the deal done.”
“There is momentum, they are solving issues and there’s no reason for these parties not to be able to achieve a deal.”
Speaking at a press conference earlier in Ottawa on Wednesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called for a “fair deal” and for Air Canada to negotiate in “good faith” with the union workers.
“I would call on Air Canada to negotiate in good faith with the pilots,” Poilievre said.
“We’re not going to support preempting those negotiations. We stand with the pilots and their right to fight for a fair deal, good wages.”
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Poilievre blamed the now defunct Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence agreement for Canadian pilots making less money than their American counterparts.
“I don’t understand why it is that Canadian pilots are paid so much worse than American pilots,” he said.
“After nine years of the NDP-Liberals, U.S. pilots make a lot more money and pay a lot less taxes and pilots at Air Canada are simply trying to make up for the ground they lost as a result of the government-caused inflation,” Poilievre added.
New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh criticized Poilievre on Wednesday and said he was playing a “political game” by voicing support for Air Canada pilots.
“Pierre Poilievre has voted in favour of back-to-work legislation multiple times,” Singh said in Montreal, where the NDP caucus is also meeting for a retreat ahead of the fall sitting of the Parliament.
“He’s forced workers back to work, undermining their rights many times. Don’t let him fool you … whenever push comes to shove, he’s not going to choose the workers. He’s going to choose his corporate buddies.”
Singh also warned the Liberal government to not interfere in the Air Canada labour talks like they recently did in the national railway dispute of CN Rail and CPKC.
Ottawa announced it would intervene less than 24 hours after the railway lockout began.
The rail shutdown ultimately lasted four days as the Canada Industrial Relations Board considered and approved the government’s request.
MacKinnon on Wednesday wouldn’t say if he intended to intervene in the dispute similar to his decision to request binding arbitration and return-to-work orders to resolve a rail shutdown late last month.
“We are committed to the collective bargaining process,” he said.
“That process in this case has yielded significant progress in terms of solving the issues.”
Business groups urge Ottawa to prevent Air Canada strike
The looming strike has travellers and businesses concerned.
Around 100 business groups on Wednesday urged Ottawa to prevent the strike by Air Canada pilots, saying a stoppage would disrupt supply chains and spoil Canada’s reputation as a reliable partner.
“The federal government needs to take decisive action. The impacts of a labor disruption at Air Canada will ripple throughout the economy,” the groups said in a letter to MacKinnon.
“Should the parties not come to a negotiated agreement, the federal government must … be prepared to act in advance to prevent yet another damaging disruption by referring the matter to binding arbitration where a neutral arbitrator can resolve any outstanding issues.”
Air Canada and its low-cost subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, together operate nearly 670 flights per day. A shutdown could affect 110,000 passengers daily.
“If Canadian businesses are unable to deliver our goods to market on time, our international partners will begin to seek permanent alternatives,” the business groups warned. A strike “will reinforce a growing perception that Canada is not a reliable trading partner.”
— with files from Global News’ Uday Rana and Sean Boynton and Reuters.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.