Fly It Right

Post date: Jan 8, 2010 2:06:19 PM

CAW leadership tells Transport Minister to fly it right

Category: Main News Room, Air Canada

Wednesday, January 06, 2010 - 09:00

The new year began with a boom when CAW leadership met with the Honourable John Baird, Minister of Transport in Ottawa on January 5, to discuss the serious challenges that the airline industry is facing.

CAW President Ken Lewenza and his Assistant, Peggy Nash joined Local 2002 President Leslie Dias, National Staff Representative, Carlo Levore and several Air Canada Vice Presidents as they presented the minister with over 2000 petitions from Air Canada employees and retirees, requesting that the government fly it right.

Baird agreed to review a detailed brief that was presented to him by the CAW outlining several recommendations to manage the airline industry in a sensible, sustainable way:

Introduce regulatory limits to manage overall capacity growth and executive compensation

Address the trade imbalance in air travel by ensuring better reciprocity in bilateral air negotiations

Public equity investment in Air Canada to stabilize the national flag carrier

National commitment to retirement security

Form a Tripartite Task Force with CAW participation to develop long term sustainable solutions to deal with the ongoing issues in the airline industry

“We made it clear that our membership want and deserve a flag carrier they can depend on to provide stable employment and long term job security,” remarked Leslie Dias after the meeting. “The Minister commented that he wants to see Air Canada return to stability and better health. Our recommendations are clear and attainable steps that will make that a reality.”

While clearly airport security and national security are key concerns for the government right now, when pressed on the issue of Safety Management Systems (SMS), Baird did comment that that SMS has his full attention and the government is currently conducting a review. He indicated that SMS should be supplementary to the government’s responsibility of safety testing and monitoring.

The year began with a boom and the CAW membership won’t let it go bust. Stay informed as Local 2002 continues to travel across the country to educate, engage and mobilize the membership about the challenges in our industry and what we can do to stop the cycle. Plan to be active and attend meetings in your area.

That’s a new year’s resolution that will garner results.