Air Canada managers are gearing up for a walkout planned next week by 3,800 sales and service agents.
As the airline faces the looming strike deadline, the Canadian Auto Workers union cautioned consumers to brace for flight delays and cancellations.
“Unfortunately, there may be some inconveniences,” CAW national president Ken Lewenza told a rally of about 300 union members Thursday at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. But he quickly added that labour negotiators will be “working incredibly hard” over the next four days to reach a tentative pact to avert any trip disruptions.
The CAW, which represents customer service agents at airports and staff at call centres, will be in a strike position late Monday night.
Mr. Lewenza said that while the union will issue 72-hour strike notice late Friday night, there will be no walkout if Air Canada reverses course, notably by withdrawing its proposal to place new hires on defined-contribution pensions and scrapping plans to launch a low-cost carrier.
Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said the carrier intends to operate its daily flight schedule as usual next week. “Customers can continue to book with confidence and follow through on their existing travel plans. We continue to negotiate with the CAW and we fully expect to reach a settlement before the CAW deadline,” he said in a statement after the union rally. “Should there be job action, Air Canada has a contingency plan in place that will enable us to operate a full schedule.”
Air Canada argues that its existing defined-benefit plans are in jeopardy because of the heavy burden of pension funding.
But Cindy Ross, who has been an Air Canada employee for 25 years, said she’s concerned about management’s efforts to make it harder to attain early retirement. Staff in existing defined-benefit pension plans would have to work 30 years to qualify, instead of the current 25 years.
The CAW’s collective agreement with the airline expired on Feb. 28. Contracts expired March 31 at Air Canada’s other major unions.
“I’m in limbo,” said Ms. Ross, one of hundreds of Air Canada employees who are wearing yellow “Fair Deal” bracelets around their wrists.
Air Canada has said the introduction of a discount leisure airline unit is important to compete against Transat A.T. Inc.
Transat chief executive officer Jean-Marc Eustache said Thursday that Air Canada already followed the tour operator’s flight path to Rome and Athens. Air Canada also flies to Dublin, but not to Manchester and Glasgow on its own aircraft, he said during a conference call, after Transat reported an $8.6-million profit in its fiscal second quarter, up from $6.2-million a year earlier. Amid surging fuel bills, Transat had an adjusted quarterly loss of $700,000, missing estimates.
Transat and Air Canada are charging $340 in round-trip fuel surcharges on transatlantic routes. Those fuel fees are up 52 per cent from last summer, but base fares have dipped slightly.
Link to Article [2]