Will Air Canada pilots go on strike this fall? What to know
Air Canada pilots could go on strike within weeks, but both the union representing pilots and the airline say they are working to negotiate.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the union representing the pilots, says they are hoping to avoid a work stoppage but are prepared to go on strike if the impasse continues.
Several rounds of talks took place between the airline and the union between January and June. At the end of June, however, they entered a 60-day period of federal consultation. In less than two weeks, a 21-day cooling period will begin, ending mid-September.
If an agreement is not reached by then, pilots could go on strike.
“We want to reach an agreement with Air Canada to avert a strike and although we have made some progress in conciliation, management continues to force us closer to a strike position by not listening to our most pressing needs at the negotiating table regarding fair compensation, respectable retirement benefits, and quality-of-life improvements,” Charlene Hudy, ALPA’s Air Canada Master Executive Council (MEC) chair, told Global News.
Hudy said while they made headway in the talks between January and June, they had reached an “impasse” with Air Canada on some key issues.
The airline, however, said negotiations are continuing.
“Already, we have reached agreement on several items. We are working actively to reach agreement on the remaining issues with an aim to finalize a deal over the next several weeks,” an Air Canada spokesperson told Global News.
They added that since no action was possible by either side until mid-September, it would be “business as usual” until then, “with Air Canada operating as normal.”
Air Canada pilots are currently in the process of a strike vote, which closes
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