97 Percent Of Pilots Vote In Favor Of A Walkout
The pilots of Canada-based Air Transat have voted to support
conducting a lawful strike if a collective agreement is not reached
with their management. In a recent strike ballot issued by the
union leadership to the pilot group, an overwhelming 97 percent of
pilots voted in favor of a lawful strike, should it become
necessary to conclude what the union considers a fair collective
agreement with Air Transat management. The pilots have been in
negotiations since January of this year.
“This vote serves as notice to
the company that our pilots are united and stand firm behind our
goal of achieving a fair and equitable contract,” said
Captain Sylvain Aubin, chairman of the Air Transat Master Executive
Council (MEC), the unit of ALPA that represents Air Transat pilots.
Of the pilots eligible to vote, more than 90 percent participated
in the balloting. “Our pilots are seeking a contract that
recognizes their contribution to the success of the airline that
they have helped to build,” Captain Aubin added.
In June, Air Transat pilots received a $1 million grant from
ALPA’s Major Contingency Fund (MCF), which provides pilot
groups with the resources needed for responding when threats to
their jobs and their profession are imminent. “While Air
Transat pilots consider a strike a matter of last resort, this vote
demonstrates their steadfast unity in achieving their contract
goals,” said Captain John Prater, ALPA’s president.
“If the pilots of Air Transat choose to declare a strike, it
will be conducted with the extensive resources and the full backing
of the nearly 53,000 pilots ALPA represents.”
On June 25, Canada’s Minister of Labor, Lisa Raitt,
appointed Ms. Maureen Flynn to serve as conciliation commissioner.
The conciliation time line establishes a series of hard deadlines
for negotiators, including a 60-day conciliation period that will
expire on September 10, 2010, unless the parties agree to extend
the process. Under the Canada Labour Code, both the strike
authorization vote and written notification to the company are
required steps before any withdrawal of services can begin. At the
end of conciliation, a mandatory 21-day waiting period will go into
effect, which concludes at midnight on October 1, at which time Air
Transat pilots will be in a legal position to strike.
After more than six months of bargaining, substantial issues
remain open, particularly in the areas of job outsourcing, pilot
fatigue mitigation, and compensation, according to Aubin. He says
the pilots continue to work under a contract that has seen no
adjustments to allowances to pension or benefits, and adjustments
to concessionary pay scales have fallen well below the rate of
inflation.