Vanessa Lu Business Reporter
The Canadian Auto Workers union has given Air Canada official notice that its 3,800 customer service agents will walk off the job at midnight Monday if there isn't a deal.
The two sides are expected to negotiate right up to the deadline in hopes of averting a strike. The 72 hours’ notice, issued late Friday and required under federal law, was expected.
The union has been talking tough, saying it won’t be budging on the 11:59 p.m. deadline on Monday, and that the threat of a labour disruption is real.
“We’re still talking. We’re still far apart,” said CAW spokeswoman Shannon Devine.
Air Canada has said it remains confident that it can reach a settlement in time, but in the event of a walkout, it would operate a full schedule.
The strike notice comes as Air Canada is in the midst of negotiating contracts with its four major labour unions. It has not been a smooth trip so far.
The pilots rejected a tentative deal over pension changes and the creation of a discount carrier. Talks with the pilots are on hold as rank-and-file members booted out four union officials, so it is now holding internal elections.
Flight attendants filed for conciliation last week and are headed for a possible strike deadline in late August. The union representing ground crews and mechanics is in the early stages of bargaining.
The CAW threat of possible travel disruptions comes just as the peak summer season is beginning, the key period when Canadian airlines make their money.
At issue for the CAW workers is a sense that when the airline was in deep financial trouble, and on the brink of bankruptcy, they made sacrifices to help the carrier, from wage cuts and freezes to allowing the company to defer payments on certain pension payments.
The airline has been making its regular pension payments all along, but it got some breathing room from the unions to delay extra payments that close the gap on past deficits.
CAW national representative Jo-Ann Hannah said members are upset with the airline’s proposal to reduce pension benefits for current employees.
As well, it wants to move to a different system, for new hires only, from a defined benefit plan, which has a guaranteed payout, to a defined contribution plan.
The CAW has balked at this proposal, calling a two-tier pension system a non-starter, saying over time it would weaken the defined benefit pension for existing employees.
Ashley Kelahear, a spokeswoman for Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, said the minister considers Air Canada to be an important service and player in the Canadian economy.
“She also believes that the best solution is one that the parties reach themselves and hope they can before a possible work stoppage,” said Kelahear.
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