Howard Levitt: Air Canada pilots strike cries out for federal intervention, but politics might get in the way
With Air Canada pilots poised to strike, the NDP has abrogated its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals and announced that it will not support back-to-work legislation. With the Conservatives making a play for organized labour and anxious to trigger an election, it is unclear how far they will go this time, assuming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, fearful of the political winds and increasingly desperate to avoid the electorate, decides to have the minister of labour order them back to work as they did with the railway workers.
Federal intervention is desperately needed.
Air Canada carries up to 110,000 people a day, some travelling for health care, others for business. This writer is booked on Air Canada for business twice this coming week alone. With September a critical month for events and conventions which make up 40 per cent of our tourist economy, even a short strike could be catastrophic for already struggling businesses and communities reliant on visitor spending.
It is not just passengers affected but air cargo such as food, medical supplies and equipment needed to keep machinery and industry operating. Radioactive isotopes used for cancer treatment have a 48-hour lifespan and are shipped on Air Canada Cargo.
The potential pilots’ strike comes weeks after a labour dispute briefly put our two major rail networks out of commission.
The labour relations reality? When any company goes on strike, its customers look for more reliable suppliers, who often insist on long-term supply agreements so that they do not lose that new customer as soon as their strike ends. The risk is that when the strike ends, the company has lost much of its customer base and its survival is in question. Something similar applies
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