Air Canada pilots get more political support as strike looms

Canada’s Conservative party chief says he stands with pilots in a labor dispute with Air Canada, as the carrier prepares to suspend flights ahead of a potential strike.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the opposition and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief rival, said he would not support any action that preempted negotiations between the airline and union.

“I would call on Air Canada to negotiate in good faith with the pilots,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “We stand with the pilots and their right to fight for a fair deal, good wages.”

The airline is set to suspend flights starting Sunday if a deal can’t be reached with the union representing more than 5,000 pilots. The pilots will be in a position to issue a 72-hour strike notice that day, and the airline plans to begin progressively canceling flights before shutting down completely on Sept. 18.

It’s the latest labor headache for Trudeau’s Liberal government. Last month, a tribunal agreed to the government’s request to order locked-out rail workers back on the job and to undergo binding arbitration, after a one-day stoppage choked supply chains.

If a strike against Air Canada goes ahead, the government could make a similar request — but an official who asked not to be named to discuss internal matters said it doesn’t plan on being trigger-happy with that power.

Another option would be to put forward back-to-work legislation in the parliament, but the Liberals would need the support of one of the three main opposition parties to pass it. 

Poilievre’s comments suggest he would not support such legislation. The party with the third-largest number of seats, the Bloc Québécois, also said Wednesday that it sides with the workers. The fourth-place New Democratic Party is a union-aligned party and recently pulled out of a deal, ending its official support for the Liberals on key votes.

Dozens of business groups, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, sent an open letter on Wednesday to Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon urging him to intervene. Should the parties not reach a deal, the federal government must act in advance and send them to binding arbitration, the groups said.

“The impact of a strike would extend far beyond passenger travel for both urban and rural Canadians — it would significantly disrupt Canada’s supply chain,” they said.

More than 110,000 people travel each day with Air Canada and a stoppage would also halt the airline’s cargo operations, which carry commercial goods, perishable items and components for manufacturers.

The union is seeking to close a pay gap with large US airlines, which have significantly increased their pilots’ pay. Air Canada pilots are paid less than half of what their industry counterparts get, according to the union.

“After nine years of the NDP-Liberals, US pilots make a lot more money and pay a lot less taxes,” Poilievre said. “Pilots at Air Canada are simply trying to make up for the ground they lost as a result of the government-caused inflation.”