Activism Change

No Air Canada Strike – For Now

Question:

As someone currently on vacation in Toronto and supposed to return home to Europe on Sunday on Air Canada, I am a bit worried about these events. If the airline goes on strike, are they in any way bound to compensate our tickets, or get me and my wife tickets on another airline? Or can they just say "tough luck" and leave us on our own to try to get ourselves tickets on routes which are probably sold out long time ago anyway?

What usually happens is other airlines step forward and ‘honour’ tickets from the struck carrier. But it’s hit and miss, and obviously there will be capacity problems. Which is why the strikers do it of course. As far as their obligations, AC will do their best (may vary depending on city, day, time etc.) to re-route you, but they have no legal responsibility to do so. This kind of situation is ‘force majeure’, thereby superceding any rule 240 provisions. Good luck. I’m supposed to fly them Friday too. Brian

Response:

What usually happens is other airlines step forward and ‘honour’ tickets from the struck carrier.

During the last strike, unless you have full fare tickets, you were required to first show up at AC to get the ticket endorsed, and then go to CP to get a seat. So you were still stuck in long AC lines everywhere.

Response:

As someone currently on vacation in Toronto and supposed to return home to Europe on Sunday on Air Canada, I am a bit worried about these events. If the airline goes on strike, are they in any way bound to compensate our tickets, or get me and my wife tickets on another airline? Or can they just say "tough luck" and leave us on our own to try to get ourselves tickets on routes which are probably sold out long time ago anyway? — "Like I said, I don’t think that Western culture has all the answers, but  it sure does seem like people in India flock to the Red Cross in droves  whenever that tent pops up."  — Dennis Miller

Response:

As someone currently on vacation in Toronto and supposed to return home to Europe on Sunday on Air Canada, I am a bit worried about these events.

If they go on strike, Air Canada will try to accomodate you. No hotel, but they will try to put you on other airline’s flights. However, this is a busy season, and finding spare seats on other airlines to europe won’t be easy. As a result, your odds are better of waiting for the strike to end and AC to catch up with the huge backlog of passengers they’ll have. During previous disruptions, it was mayhem because AC just didn’t have the staff to handle the tens of thousands of passengers stuck at airports.

Response:

“A work to rule campaign, or similar action could have the effect of progressively interfering with, grounding or delaying Air Canada’s network in an unpredictable manner with inconvenience to our customers,” said Mr. Rovinescu. “We will be closely monitoring the extent and level of disruption caused by any ACPA work to rule campaign and will take appropriate action to minimize further inconvenience to the travelling public and all other stakeholders,” he added. I would hope that pilots are one group who work to rule *all* the time.

One would hope but it’s often not the case. Ironic that AC is worried about its operations being adversely affected by pilots sticking to the rules that they’ve already negotiated and agreed to with the pilots, n’est pas? In fact, as was stated by one of the pilots, Canada is one of the worst countries for duty and flight time limitations of pilots (and flight attendants for that matter). With new aircraft that can fly further and for longer periods of time, this is becoming a more of a real sticking point. Especially on aircraft like the A340 when the crew rest "module" is unserviceable (or not loaded), or on other aircraft types where the company sells the seats that are supposed to be reserved for crew rest areas. I believe this is one of the issues still unresolved between ACPA and AC. Often is the case where the pilots’ duty day is extended past the contracted maximum "at the pilots’ discretion". This helps in situations with lengthy delays where another crew would have to be found quickly, paying for volunteer bumps,  having to put passengers up in hotels etc.

Response:

“A work to rule campaign, or similar action could have the effect of

progressively interfering with, grounding or delaying Air Canada’s network in an unpredictable manner with inconvenience to our customers,” said Mr. Rovinescu. “We will be closely monitoring the extent and level of disruption caused by any ACPA work to rule campaign and will take appropriate action to minimize further inconvenience to the travelling public and all other stakeholders,” he added. I would hope that pilots are one group who work to rule *all* the time.

Response:

Here is an Air Canada statement: note the "when the union hasn’t disclosed" bit… Air Canada Provides Update On Pilot Dispute MONTREAL, July 17 /CNW/ – In response to an earlier announcement today by the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) rejecting a proposal made by the company on July 15 to submit the contract dispute to binding arbitration, Air Canada reiterated its strong belief that some form of third party intervention was the next logical step under the circumstances. “We must bring this climate of uncertainty to a close for the travelling public, cargo and freight forwarders, all sectors of the business community and our other employees,” said Calin Rovinescu, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development & Strategy, who is leading the airline’s negotiating team. “There are many experienced arbitrators available with expertise in various aspects of the aviation industry and issues relating to pilots in particular,” he added. In addition, while ACPA failed to disclose this in today’s announcement, ACPA advised the company and Minister of Labour Claudette Bradshaw, pursuant to the industrial action provisions of the Labour Code, that it would issue a bulletin to its members on Tuesday July 18 “reminding them of their regulatory, policy and contractual responsibilities required under their profession and employment with Air Canada.” This is unprecedented and should that bulletin be issued, it is, in the company’s view, tantamount to the start of a work to rule campaign. “A work to rule campaign, or similar action could have the effect of progressively interfering with, grounding or delaying Air Canada’s network in an unpredictable manner with inconvenience to our customers,” said Mr. Rovinescu. “We will be closely monitoring the extent and level of disruption caused by any ACPA work to rule campaign and will take appropriate action to minimize further inconvenience to the travelling public and all other stakeholders,” he added. ACPA walked away from the table on Friday July 14 after three weeks of negotiations during which the company had improved its previous offer by more than $100 million and had also proposed numerous improvements to work rules, working conditions and pension security. “ACPA’s decision to break off talks at this critical time was totally unjustified in view of the company’s clear resolve to reach agreement and has already resulted in delay. It is disingenuous for ACPA to suggest that Air Canada is somehow stalling this process,” concluded Mr. Rovinescu. ACPA has not given the company notice of intent to strike. According to Canadian labour law, a union must give 72 hours notice prior to taking any strike action. For further information        Nicole Couture-Simard (Montr

Filed under: Strike action

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