News
Air Canada legislation aimed at helping economy
March 13, 2012, Ottawa - Labour Minister Lisa Raitt says her back-to-work legislation in Air Canada labour dispute is aimed at protecting the economy.
March 13, 2012 By The Canadian Press
The bill follows Raitt's move last week to block strikes at the airline by referring disputes with pilots and mechanics to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
The proposed bill would send both to binding arbitration.
Raitt says economic recovery remains the government's top priority and grounded flights translate into lost opportunities for businesses and frustration for travellers.
She says a work stoppage at Air Canada is something ''we simply can't afford.''
The bill about three-thousand pilots and some 82-hundred technical, maintenance and operational support employees.
Contracts for both groups expired almost a year ago.
