Sept 12 (Askume) – Air Canada said on Thursday that Canada’s federal government should be prepared to intervene to prevent an impending pilot strike that could lead to chaos in the coming weeks.
Spokesman Christophe Hennebelle said by phone that the airline was committed to reaching an agreement but accused the union representing the pilots of making unreasonable demands.
The strike may start from September 18.
“We are bargaining. We are committed to reaching an agreement. But we say that if negotiations fail, the government must be prepared to intervene and avoid chaos,” Hennebell said.
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon, who has broad powers to handle disputes, intervened last month to end shutdowns of the country’s two biggest rivals, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), within 24 hours.
Nearly 100 trade groups on Wednesday urged the governmentThat would prevent Air Canada from grounding its flights before it does so . While Ottawa has intervened in labour disputes several times over the decades, it has only done so after a shutdown has begun, not before.
MacKinnon’s office declined to comment on Air Canada’s request. He has repeatedly expressed hope that the two sides will resolve their differences at the negotiating table.
“There is no such thing as a short-term disruption. If we start to relax gradually, there will be a disruption of several days or weeks,” Hennebell said.
Air Canada’s 5,400 pilots are demanding higher pay to narrow the pay gap with peers at major U.S. airlines such as United Airlines (UAL.O) .
Hennebelle said the airlines have offered to raise wages by more than 30%.
The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents Air Canada pilots and most U.S. airline pilots, was not immediately available for comment.
“Pilots are united, committed and not willing to accept any more pay cuts,” association president Jason Ambrosie wrote on LinkedIn this week.
