As Air Canada pilots prepare for a possible strike next week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a “fair deal” and for the national carrier to negotiate in “good faith” with unionized workers.
Both Air Canada and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents 5,200 Air Canada pilots, could issue a 72-hour strike or lockout notice unless an agreement is reached by Sunday.
The 72-hour closure notice could begin any time after midnight on Sunday, with operations expected to stop completely on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Air Canada has said it will begin cancelling flights and operations starting this Friday.
“I call on Air Canada to negotiate in good faith with the pilots,” Poilievre said at a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.
“We will not support blocking these negotiations. We are on the side of the pilots and their right to fight for fair treatment and good wages.”
Poilievre blamed the now-defunct confidence and supply agreement between the Liberals and NDP for the fact that Canadian pilots earn less money than their American counterparts.
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“I don’t understand why Canadian pilots are paid so much less than American pilots,” he said.
“After nine years of the NDP and the Liberals, American pilots are making a lot more money and paying a lot less taxes, and Air Canada pilots are simply trying to make up for the ground they lost as a result of government-induced inflation,” Poilievre added.
Federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon said Tuesday he is still “very optimistic” that a strike by Air Canada pilots can be avoided through negotiations.
— with files from Global News’ Uday Rana and Sean Boynton.
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