 |
Air Canada withdraws court challenge
 |
The Canadian Press-
Air Canada is withdrawing its court challenge of an arbitrator's ruling on a key pension deal that was part of a binding agreement with the union representing service workers.
The big air carrier said late Tuesday it will withdraw its planned court review of arbitrator Kevin Burkett's ruling on pension provisions that affect airline members of the Canadian Auto Workers union.
The company said its decision follows a conversation between CEO Calin Rovinescu and Ken Lewenza, national president of the CAW, Canada's largest industrial union.
"While there may be valid legal arguments in a judicial review of the Burkett decision, it is more important that our employees, unions and other stakeholders have clarity with respect to the direction of pension reform at Air Canada," the company said in a statement emailed late Tuesday.
"This is essential to create a climate of stability so that the company can move forward."
Air Canada, which has been beset for years by rocky relations with many of its 23,000 employees, said it would not comment further.
The carrier has been trying to cut its operating costs for years as it deals with mounting competition in the air travel industry and the impact of rising fuel costs and an economic slowdown that has squeezed its business.
Like many other companies, Air Canada has also been trying to reform its pension plans to make them less costly — a move its unions have fought bitterly.
Tuesday's decision could be welcome news for the airline's other unions — including pilots, mechanics and flight attendants, who consider the pension issue a key bargaining point.
Lewenza said he was relieved after receiving the conciliatory phone call from Rovinescu, who had just returned from China on a business trip.
Rovinescu decided to revoke the application after reading Lewenza's angry letter to the airline CEO, saying the company's decision was the biggest affront to employer-union negotiations he had seen in his long career.
"It wasn't a discussion of debate, it was clearly a call just to say 'Ken, I'm accommodating your request," Lewenza said.
"It allows us now to start focusing on what's important to our members and what's important to Air Canada outside of the collective bargaining stuff."
On Monday, Lewenza said that Air Canada's legal manoeuvre threatened the fragile labour peace with his members and amounts to a violation of the collective agreement, which was reached this summer after a three-day strike.
The decision to revoke the application filed in federal and Ontario courts last week comes just days ahead of arbitration with the CUPE union representing the company's flight attendants.
On Oct. 17, several days before it agreed to arbitration for flight attendants, the airline applied for a judicial review in both Federal Court and the Ontario divisional court.
It sought to overturn Burkett's ruling to create a hybrid defined benefit and defined contribution pension plan for newly hired customer service representatives covered by the CAW agreement.
The company wanted to move all new hires strictly to defined contribution plans.
In its court applications, the country's largest carrier said the arbitrator in the CAW case exceeded its jurisdiction by selecting a third offer submitted by the union after the original proposal deadline.
The arbitrator's ruling on the CAW contract for Air Canada's customer service representatives was to be CUPE's basis for settling the pension issue with flight attendants.
CUPE had said earlier Tuesday that it's concerned the airline may change its tune on key pension restructuring agreements as the two sides head into contract arbitration.
CUPE national representative Daniela Scarpelli said any change in the arbitrator's ruling following Air Canada's challenge will cause grave concern for its 6,800 flight attendants.
Union lawyers are researching and investigating all avenues in order to be ready when CUPE makes its own arbitration submissions on Friday.
In deals that were rejected by flight attendants, the union reached agreement with the airline on setting up hybrid pension plans for new hires.
The union and company agreed last Friday to send their dispute to final and binding arbitration.
Arbitration hearings are to begin Oct. 28 and a binding award is to be made by Nov. 7. The identity of the arbitrator hasn't been determined.
409 page views
|
|
|
|