Air Canada avoids work stoppage as strike suspended

Jordan Press, Postmedia News 

Air Canada avoids work stoppage as strike suspended

Air Canada had one message Wednesday morning to passengers: Labour strife won't delay any takeoffs or landing.

TOMMY CHENG / Getty Images


OTTAWA — Air Canada passengers will continue to fly for the foreseeable future after the federal government stepped into a dispute between the carrier and an unhappy union Wednesday and used a rarely employed tactic to prevent a strike by flight attendants.

The federal labour minister officially asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to review a contract conflict between Air Canada and the union representing 6,800 flight attendants, a move that entered murky legal territory, but suspended a work stoppage.

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt asked the board, a quasi-judicial body, to determine whether a disruption of service would pose a health and safety risk to the public.

The Canada Labour Code says that while such a referral has been made to the board, services have to continue "to the extent necessary to prevent an immediate and serious danger to the safety or health of the public."

"In this regard, the Code is clear that this referral suspends the right to strike or lock out until the Board renders a decision on this matter," the board said in a statement posted on its website.

According to the board's website, deliberations on "maintenance of activities" take, on average, 62 days to process and require two days to deliver a decision.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the flight attendants, said in a statement that its members would not walk off the job, but questioned why the airline suddenly was being considered an essential service.

"During all previous discussions and negotiations between Air Canada and its flight attendants, at no time did the employer make a formal request for the maintenance of 'essential services' in the event of a strike," the union said in a release.

Raitt's announcement raised a number of legal questions, such as whether Air Canada could be considered an essential service, as well as the government's use of the labour board.

"The board has been used in the past to rule on the legality or illegality of a strike . . . not whether the minister can suspend the right to strike," said George Smith, an industrial relations expert from Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

"This is unprecedented."

In a release, Raitt said the referral to the board was needed to "determine how best to maintain and secure industrial peace and promote conditions that are favourable to the settlement of industrial disputes."

Opposition critics said the government's use of the labour board amounted to a renewed attack on the union's right to strike and to bargain.

"That's not how you negotiate," said NDP labour critic Yvon Godin. "That's not good labour relations."

Godin said the referral was a stall tactic to give the government time to pass back-to-work legislation.

A spokeswoman for Raitt said the government is still considering all of its options in the labour dispute, but couldn't provide specifics.

Liberal labour critic Rodger Cuzner said Raitt's argument to the board that the strike is a health and safety issue is a far cry from the government's belief that a strike would negatively affect the Canadian economy.

"What we've seen is the willingness of the government to take on organized labour," he said.

"I'm concerned. I think organized labour is concerned."

Frustrated flight attendants vented their feelings about the labour dispute and federal government involvement in online videos posted to YouTube.

In one video, with Twisted Sister's song We're Not Gonna Take It playing in the background, two masked people hold signs showing the salaries of top Air Canada executives, and other signs with messages about having worked 167.5 hours one month, but only being paid for 82 hours.

"Respect our right to strike, Ms. Raitt," reads the last sign held up during the video.

Wages, pensions, crew rest time, working conditions and work rules are all issues in the negotiations.