Raitt to block strike by Air Canada flight attendants
Posted October 11, 2011 2:42 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL – Labour Minister Lisa Raitt says the government is calling on the Canada Industrial Relations Board to deal with Air Canada‘s failed negotiations with its flight attendants.
She says referring the matter to the labour relations board will prevent nearly 7,000 flight attendants at Canada’s largest airline from going on strike on Thursday.
The latest twist in Air Canada’s troubled contract negotiations comes after members of the union rejected a second tentative agreement supported by leaders of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Raitt told CTV News that a reference will be sent Wednesday asking the board to examine the difficulties in winning membership ratification of two tentative agreements this year.
The reference buys the government time to pass back-to-work legislation until the House of Commons resumes sitting next week.
Key issues in the ongoing dispute include wages, pensions, crew rest time and working conditions. The airline reportedly wants new hires to be paid much lower wages, starting at $18,000 and rising to a top wage of $34,500, instead of $46,400 earned currently.
Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt had already said if the two sides were unable to come to a solution, the government was “prepared to act to protect Canada’s fragile economy.”
