Air Canada pilots could strike as early as next month

CITYnews halifax / By Michael Ranger

The turbulence continues for Canada’s airline industry with pilots at Air Canada now in the midst of a strike vote that could lead to a job action next month.

In a statement to CityNews, the labour union representing Air Canada pilots confirms they are currently in the process of a strike vote and could be in position to walk off the job by mid-September.

First officer Charlene Hudy, chair of the Air Canada Master Executive Council (MEC), which represents the pilots, says the two sides made headway during mediation earlier this year but talks have since hit a standstill.

“We then entered 60 days of federal conciliation at the end June and have less than two weeks remaining before we enter the 21-day cooling off period,” reads the statement from Hudy.

The strike vote closes on Aug. 22, and depending on the result, the union could be in the position to strike as early as the end of the cooling off period.

“Our goal is to avoid a strike, and our focus remains on negotiating a modern contract that Air Canada pilots will strongly vote in favour of,” the statement reads. “At this time, we are not seeing the significant movement we need to from Air Canada.”

Hudy claims the airline has not been listening to the pilots most pressing needs, which she lists as fair compensation, retirement benefits, and “qualify-of-life improvements.”

Air Canada says it has already reached an agreement with pilots on a numbe of items and the airline plans to operate as normal until at least mid-September, the earliest the job action can take place.

“We are working actively to reach agreement on the remaining issues with an aim to finalize a deal over the next several weeks,” says Air Canada in a statement.

The potential job action is the latest development in a summer full of Canadian travel interruptions. WestJet was forced to cancel more than 1,000 flights after mechanics went on strike right before the start of the Canada Day long weekend.

The mechanics walked off the job despite orders from the federal labour minister that directed the airline and union into binding arbitration to resolve their dispute.

More recently, WestJet has cancelled more than 600 flights in the wake of a devastating hailstorm in Calgary that damaged 10 per cent of its aircraft fleet.

The airline said Wednesday that the damaged planes won’t be back in service for several weeks, and they will continue with proactive cancellations as the aircrafts are repaired in phases.