Ottawa to end strike

[loadshed]

Raitt did the same thing when Jazz pilots were all set for a legal strike position. Difficult to negotiate with one arm tied behind your back, courtesy of your Conservative elected officials.
This back to work legislation talk could be seen coming from miles away.
The party will continue with this in the future, particularly now with a Harper majority.
Why is anyone surprised by this? The current Conservatives are the most anti-labour government this country has ever seen, with little regard for the legal framework in place to enable workers to negotiate a fair contract.
This will affect ALL unions in this country.

[CAL]

but then if government does this you are forced to go back to the same conditions? so nothing has been achieved by the strike in the first place so you strike again?
What if 3800 folks just dont go back to work?
what does this mean for ACPA?

[DrBoeing]

I wonder if anyone has explained to her what would happen if about 15000 AC employees worked to rule after legislation.

I bet it would be ALOT cheaper to just let it go the way it is.

CR knew this would happen and that is exactly why they did not agree to ANYTHING, he knew that the Gouverment would step in so why play nice before hand.

It is the old cliche, be careful for what you wish for, you may just get it.
They have to report for duty, does mot mean they will work. Mass sick outs, long long breaks, adhering to the SOP's to the letter will kill AC.

[DrBoeing]

Having gone through this last year at Jazz, I can tell you that writing your MP and especially Minister RAT is not going to accomplish a hell of a whole lot except for say a little venting.

Government interference at an early juncture has become common place as all they have to do is utter that a strike will cause undue hardship to the economy and inconvenience many. This is the new reality, in essence the right to strike has been taken away and management knows they can count on it to avoid negotiating a settlement.

The loudest message that could be sent to the politicians in Ottawa would be one where labour in all sectors of the economy throughout the country were to walk off. I doubt that will ever happen until people actually wake up and see what is going on.

An easy way to get the governments attention is to have all the unions get together and shut the place down for a few days. The pandemonium would bring lots of attention and we could demand that this situation be rectified and it may be time to demand that Rovinescu get tossed as well, contrary to his smiling YOUTUBE videos, this man is a snake and he showed that clear as day during CCAA and if you think he changed during those years, guess again, he is still a serpent

[KAG]

Seems to me our elected government is making the rules up as they go. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a union fan, but I’m sure as sh!t not a fan of our elected officials interfering with a completely legal strike. This completely show’s favoritism towards the company, as well as makes it impossible for AC employees to fight for a fair contract.

Why not go to the media? Get a labor lawyer who is both media savvy and well versed in labor law to explain to the masses that this is an attack on everyone’s civil liberties!? Demonstrate just how this could effect any group (union or not) thinking of labor action and the impact to all other sectors in negotiations.

I don’t think the pension in its current form is sustainable, but let democracy run its course and let the two groups hammer out a FAIR contract. Painful changes are coming, especially with the baby boomers retiring, but this is NOT the way to bring change.

[CAL]

100% KAG.....its a scary thought to consider whats going on.....

[prop2jet]

Kag, the media is not the solution, they spin the story to sensationalize it. The CAW has outlined it's position clearly and there has already been enough said on the topic. The way I see it, the general public at large looks at it in a simplistic way, because that is how it is presented to them through the media.

For those of us who work in the industry, it is clear, however for those who are not familiar with what is going on, the attitude that you should be lucky to have a job prevails. How many out there outrighly support the postal workers? When the media starts to talk about their hourly wage and what Canada Post is offering, the prevailing sentiment is not supportive of the postal workers, but rather, who needs em, they earn enough etc.

Perhaps if we as a society were a little more engaged and held those whom we elect to political office accountable for their actions instead of pandering to the sensationalism and fear mongering they spew, things would be a little different.

[KAG]

Prop, the media does like to spin, especially a Good underdog story. If it's public perception their fighting then point out it's not just how much money people make per hour but how their paid. Spin it in such a way to make the masses see
This could effect them down the road-it would be a nasty precedent.
I guess this applies to us more as our hourly rate to the average person is very high, but we don't get paid like other jobs. If you can't beat them in court, then beat them in the court of public opinion.

[flightster]

Early this morning, as we were informed by the CAW that their members were on strike, we put our contingency plan into action.

I am proud to report that our first 24 hours demonstrated the high level of commitment and professionalism we expect from the 22,000 employees who worked together to minimize the impact to our customers.

While there were inevitable challenges throughout the day, our system start up was one of the best in weeks, and there were widespread media reports of a relatively smooth operation under the circumstances. Comments from our customers were generally positive with most reporting virtually unaffected airport experiences. Working together we carried nearly 99,000 customers safely to their destinations with a flight completion rate of over 99.8%!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the 22,000 employees supporting this operation for your contributions to this incredible effort. No matter what your role, your professionalism under the circumstances cannot be underestimated and your commitment to our customers defines our company.

You may have already heard that the government gave notice it will introduce back-to-work legislation. We would prefer that a negotiated contract to the benefit of both parties could be achieved through the normal bargaining process and we're ready to go back to the table at any time.

In the meantime, I know I can count on everyone to continue to put our customers first.

Duncan Dee

I just don't get it! Maybe Duncan should have forwarded this letter to Ms. Tit (Taitt) first.

Flightster

[bcflyer]

Just watched our illustrious labour minister on Canada AM. All I can say is what an uneducated twit. She went on about how the government is concerned about lack of service and Canadians being stuck overseas if the strike is allowed to continue. Over 99% of the flights were completed yesterday. Nobody was stuck overseas and it certainly didn't affect the national economy. Meanwhile Canada Post has locked out its workers so we have absolutely no mail service. Think that could have an effect on the economy? Talk about hypocritical!!!

[tailgunner]

This back to work legislation is a gift for CAW. CAW has proved themselves to be a less than serious roadblock to AC operations. They have tried their best and have failed badly. AC has CAW on the ropes, and would probably prefer that they remain on strike for the foreseeable future. AC will contract out CAW services IE: pax wheelchair pushing...and CAW will be further hamstrung.
Back to work means that AC and CAW will be forced into an agreement. The agreement will be favoring AC, but it will be far more generous to CAW than if AC is allowed to play hard ball. The CSA's are at the point of being seen , and declared irrelevant, and that is not good for ones bargaining power.

[accumulous]

This back to work legislation is a gift for CAW.

You've got one guy with a solid gold defined benefit pension that you're paying for, putting the CAW onto the street, and you've got one broad with a solid gold defined benefit pension that you're also paying for, legislating the CAW back to work.

And you think the CAW is going to just roll over? Guess again. Watch the Posties get involved. The CAW will be back once the contract raping stops.

[flightster]

Union Members Demonstrate Outside Labour Minister Lisa Raitt’s Office
By Communicator, on June 15th, 2011
Source: Canada Newswire

TORONTO AND MILTON, June 15, 2011 /CNW/ – Hundreds of local union members and supporters will demonstrate outside Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt’s Milton constituency office today at 3 p.m.

Demonstrators are rallying against threatened back to work legislation for both Air Canada and Canada Post workers, which would strip workers of their collective bargaining rights.

The CAW has set up picket lines at Air Canada serviced airports across the country. CAW members at Air Canada went on strike on June 14 at 12:01 a.m.

Rally: No Back to Work Legislation
Labour Minister Lisa Raitt’s Halton Constituency office
86 Main Street
East Milton, ON L9T 1N3

Lisa, you silly rabbit! Tricks are for kids!

[flyinhigh]

While they are at it, someone should educate her on what the economical fallout would be if all the striking employees worked to rule.

We(pilots) at jazz did that last june, our crew related delays/cancellations went up something like 300%. I just wish our NC said if you legislate us back there will be
5 years of the contract that we get stuck working this work to rule. I can just imagine how fast you'd be brought back to the table than

Do this and Maybe than they'll back off.

[ahramin]

For pilots (and to a lesser extent F/As), work to rule is an incredibly powerful tool if you have solidarity. I'm not so sure the same applies to CSRs. How often are they asked to go to work outside of the scope of their collective agreement?

However, it could be a very, very bad idea to teach her about work to rule, as she could then take steps to legislate against it. In the US they do it through the courts, but I don't think Canadian corporations would bother spending the money on lawyers when they have the federal government available to bully workers instead.

[JakeYYZ]

CAW/AC tentative deal reached...presser 14:00YYZ/16 Jun

[YCL Boy]

Pension going to Arbitration, is there a precedent in the past on DBP pensions going to Arbitration ???
If not it will be a very stressful time for all unionized workers like myself.
This could be the precedent for the Pilot Group.

SOLIDARITY BOYS & GIRLS!!!!!

[Dark Helmet]

The question you should be asking your conservatives MP's is so far the Harper Government shut down Parliament twice. This happened during a major economic downturn.

Why did the Harper government shut down parliament? It was not for the benefit of the Canadian people, It was not for the benefit of the Canadian Government, It was for the benefit of the Conservative party because their backs were up againts the wall at the time. They did this with no regard of what the impact would be on the economy, the budget, etc.

Unions don't go on strike to harm their employers, or the economy. In fact they are probably the ones who are most interested in the company's well being as they are the ones who will be around for the long haul.

Unions go on strike because their management whom are being overpaid to make poor decision and slaughter the company is playing hard ball and asking for concessions to fix their mistakes and poor decision making.

If the employees are that improtant to the economy then they should be properly compansated and not slapped in the face with BTWL.

So how can the Harper government justify shutting down parliament when it suited themselves, and then turn around and tell trade unions that they cannot do the same.

[Understated]

For pilots (and to a lesser extent F/As), work to rule is an incredibly powerful tool if you have solidarity.

Work to rule is an incredibly powerful tool, save for one minor complication. In Canada it is classified as a strike. It is illegal unless the union is in a legal strike position, which it will not be in, should it be legislated back to work.

[vortac]

CAW/AC tentative deal reached...presser 14:00YYZ/16 Jun

The question is, will it get ratified. I hope not, otherwise these Conservatives will have had their nuclear destruction of Canadian labour relations validated with no effort yet again.

Pilots are next.