Air Canada Fiasco: A Final Wrap Up

Alright, we’ve had just about enough talk this week about Air Canada and it is time to move on to other topics. However, since I am using this Blog in part to build a reference library for my students and research for my upcoming textbook on Canadian Workplace Law and Policy, I will do a final wrap by referring to some of the many news stories from the last 72 hours.
There’s an editorial from the Globe and Mail telling the government to “stop meddling in Air Canada’s labour dispute”.
Here is an interesting piece in today’s Ottawa Citizen exploring how the Government has set a very nice fact scenario for the Charter challenge we all anticipate that will explore whether there is a constitutional right to strike. The fact that the government is hurriedly legislating back workers in the absence of any evidence of harm to Canadians, while imposing arbitration processes tilted in the employer’s favour, and in the case of Canada Post, actually legislating wage levels below what the employer had already offered, create a perfect set of facts to test how far a government can go in preventing free collective bargaining and the right to strike.  I am quoted, along with Professor Brian Langille, my colleague here at York, Eric Tucker, and distinguished labour lawyer Paul Cavalluzzo, among others.
From the CBC, an interesting article that considers whether government intervention in bargaining actually helps employers. It cites Tucker and Langille again, but also my old law school buddy Erin Kuzz, who is an employer side labour lawyer at Sherrard Kuzz. She argues that while employers might like that governments intervene and reduce or eliminate worker power (the threat of a strike), in the end the government’s interventions may destabilize collective bargaining in ways that are not at all good for employers.  It is better, says Kuzz, for employers to bargain a deal, than to have disputes sent to arbitration, where the results are unpredictable and often favour the workers more than the usual strike route would.
Here is a Toronto Star story discussing the new bad faith bargaining complaint filed by Air Canada against CUPE.  Apparently, Air Canada has decided that poisoning the workplace climate even more than it already is makes for good strategy.  The complaint is apparently that it is illegal for a union bargaining committee to have a proposed collective agreement that it recommends voted down by the membership.  Good luck with that one, Air Canada.  I’m sure it will improve your relationship with employees immeasurably.
A Canadian Press story discussing the Minister’s ploy of pretending that there is a health and safety issue so she could use the essential services section of the Labour Code to stop the strike (quoting me and Ian Lee of Carelton).
If you have other stories or comments on the Air Canada situation, please pass them along using the Comment feature.  Air Canada will no doubt be back in the news shortly when the government introduces yet another piece of back to work legislation–unless of course the parties resolve the dispute before then.