Government passes back-to-work legislation

[mentalfloss]

Canada House passes bill to block Air Canada strike

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's House of Commons passed a bill overnight to prevent a work stoppage at No. 1 airline Air Canada, sending two separate disputes to binding arbitration, Labor Minister Lisa Raitt said in a statement on Wednesday.

The legislation, which passed 155-124 on Wednesday, covers about 8,600 mechanics, baggage handlers and other ground crew and about 3,000 pilots.

The bill will prevent both a threatened strike by the airline's machinists, and a possible lock out by the airline of its pilots. It must still be passed by the Senate before being signed into law.

"With no prospect of resolution in sight, our government acted to ensure air services are not halted which would in turn harm businesses and travelers alike," Raitt said.

Canada House passes bill to block Air Canada strike | Business | Reuters

 

[Liberalman]

I watched CPAC last night and saw the passionate pleas of the Liberals, NDP, BLOC and the Green for workers rights with the first, second, committee as a whole and third reading in the House of Commons and saw the Conservatives vote them down.

It ended early in the morning and I was surprised to see the Prime Minister there with their majority he really does not have to be there.

The Conservative government brought back to work legislation on a private company that was not on strike but they refuse to make them an essential service.

 

[wulfie68]

I watched CPAC last night and saw the passionate pleas of the Liberals, NDP, BLOC and the Green for workers rights with the first, second, committee as a whole and third reading in the House of Commons and saw the Conservatives vote them down.

It ended early in the morning and I was surprised to see the Prime Minister there with their majority he really does not have to be there.

The Conservative government brought back to work legislation on a private company that was not on strike but they refuse to make them an essential service.

With the tons of federal money pumped into Air Canada over the years, the Feds do have the right to put the hammer down on them. I don't shed any tears for anyone at that bloated monument to Trudeau's ego...

 

[captain morgan]

Maybe an option would be to pump cash into the regional carriers and off set some of the power that Air Canada has.

 

[TenPenny]

I notice that the reason this is an issue is that it coincides with Ontario's school break.

Hardly a national issue, but that's the way the gov't spins it.

 

[mentalfloss]

I notice that the reason this is an issue is that it coincides with Ontario's school break.

Hardly a national issue, but that's the way the gov't spins it.

Well their official spin is that doing this seriously hampers the economy.

People need to put into perspective that the economy shouldn't be the only thing that is important. I think people are forgetting that, and letting this government have a pass on some fundamental rights these workers are entitled to. It's these same people that are ideologically deluded enough to believe we should privatize everything.

I can't wait for Air Canada to be privatized so we can have 3 month delays for missing fuel payments.

TheSpec - Direct Air discount airline suspends service...

 

[bobnoorduyn]

I can't wait for Air Canada to be privatized so we can have 3 month delays for missing fuel payments.

Ummm... Air Canada was privatized in 1988.

That being said, the whole lockout thing is just hokus pokus, a year ago last summer the Air Canada brass, (I won't say who he is) lobbied Lisa Raitt personally to table back to work legislation forgoing a strike by Jazz pilots and flight attendants. Now do you really think he had any plans to lock the Air Canada pilots out? No, he's just playing Lisa Raitt like a cheap violin, taking away about the only legal leverage labour has. The problem with all this back to work legislation, threatened or real, it eliminates the will of both management and labour to bargain in good faith, if at all. This has been proven over time both in Canada and the US.

Binding arbitration is not an answer either. Arbitrators have no clue about the operation of an airline and the intricacies of flight crew contracts. Nor are they aware that airline employees in both Canada and the US have taken pay and benefit cuts of 40% over the past 15 years, (Sully was almost in bankrupcy when he ditched the Bus in the Hudson). It is really a race to the bottom as passengers demand cheaper tickets. Major carriers, primarily in the US, cut their mainline operations in favour of tier two (commuter or "express") flying. The tier two flying is done by contract carriers such as Mesaba, PSA, Air Wisconson, Colgan etc. The lowest bidder generally gets the work. To make it profitable they pay low wages, work the crews 16 hours per day, (though more restrictive flight and duty time legislation has been passed that more closely resembles what we have here) and base them in locales that are impossible to live in, imagine trying to live in New York on $16K. You can't; where you live and how you get to work is not the company's concern, just make sure you get to work on time. You get what you pay for. Things are better in Canada only because we haven't caught up to the States yet, but we're working on it.

I know the media and public can't understand how labour can demand better wages is a down economy, but they also took consessions during a booming economy, and the contracts weren't even due then. No one seems to flinch when airport taxes rise, parking fees rise, security fees rise, but everyone complains when labour wants a raise.

As for Air Canada or any of its contract carriers being an "essential service", it is only essential that the MP's get to use their 40 odd free flights per year.

 

[TenPenny]

I can't wait for Air Canada to be privatized so we can have 3 month delays for missing fuel payments.

Maybe after that, they can do the same with PetroCanada, and CNRail....


LOL

 

[mentalfloss]

I hate you guys. :lol:

 

[relic]

Sarcasm is lost on those with no sense of humour

 

[mentalfloss]

Lisa Raitt’s new arbitrator in labour dispute ran twice for Tories

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt has appointed a new arbitrator with ties to the Conservatives to settle a contract between Canada Post and its 48,000 postal workers.

Raitt has named Guy Dufort, a retired labour lawyer who ran twice for the Conservatives, to replace retired Ontario judge Coulter Osborne, who quit last November after the union went to court to challenge his appointment.

A Federal Court judge later sided with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, arguing that the arbitrator should be bilingual. Dufort is bilingual and has offices in both Montreal and Ottawa.

The union is also challenging the back-to-work legislation which was brought in last June after Canada Post locked out its workers following rotating strikes.

The law calls for final offer arbitration, where both sidespresent their final positions and the arbitrator selects one without blending aspects from the two sides.

Lisa Raitt's Arbitrator Ran for Tories

 

[captain morgan]

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt has appointed a new arbitrator with ties to the Conservatives to settle a contract between Canada Post and its 48,000 postal workers.

Lisa Raitt's Arbitrator Ran for Tories

Is this thread about Air Canada or Canada Post?

Pretty disingenuous to provide a link that derides the present gvt for the Air Canada situation by pointing to an event that is long past.

 

[mentalfloss]

Is this thread about Air Canada or Canada Post?

It's about back-to-work legislation.

 

[taxslave]

Well their official spin is that doing this seriously hampers the economy.

People need to put into perspective that the economy shouldn't be the only thing that is important. I think people are forgetting that, and letting this government have a pass on some fundamental rights these workers are entitled to. It's these same people that are ideologically deluded enough to believe we should privatize everything.

I can't wait for Air Canada to be privatized so we can have 3 month delays for missing fuel payments.

TheSpec - Direct Air discount airline suspends service...

Wrong. The economy is the most important thing. Without a strong economy there is no money for your cherished social programs unless you want to put my grandchildren farther in debt to pay for your freebees now.

Problem is Air Canada has too much of the market.

 

[relic]

Yes,but just saying that the economy is a priority doesn't make it better,repearing a lie four thousand times doesn't make it true.

 

[taxslave]

Yes,but just saying that the economy is a priority doesn't make it better,repearing a lie four thousand times doesn't make it true.

You want your taxpayer funded goodies without going in debt a strong economy is essential so it is not a lie.
Unfortunately when a company is as large as Air Canada and has a huge impact on so many other peoples livelihoods the right to strikes /lockouts has to be restricted. Much like government employees. The alternative would be to completely do away with regulation over routes and foreign carriers which is probably not in our best interests.

 

[mentalfloss]

Wrong. The economy is the most important thing.

First off, you're confusing important with only. There are social gains to be made which have no reliance on the economy whatsoever. It's simply a matter of policy.

Secondly, there has been no evidence brought forth to prove that a strike would have any significant effect on the economy.

 

[captain morgan]

Yes,but just saying that the economy is a priority doesn't make it better,repearing a lie four thousand times doesn't make it true.

When the cupboards are bare, the cupboards are bare... Ask the Greeks about how that's working out for them

It's about back-to-work legislation.

Then why not identify that in the large font title of that specific post? Your employment of the Canada Post situation is a partisan attack.

 

[petros]

When the cupboards are bare, the cupboards are bare... Ask the Greeks about how that's working out for them.

I'd like to ask them how they feel about being stuck with EU debt ontop of their own.

 

[mentalfloss]

Then why not identify that in the large font title of that specific post? Your employment of the Canada Post situation is a partisan attack.

No, it's simply another example of the action taken by government based on this legislation.