Air Canada Comments On CIRB Order Relating To CAW Request To Prevent The Airline From Proceeding Wit
The Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB)
today ordered that 1280 temporary lay-office notices issued October 9, 2001 to
Air Canada employees represented by the CAW be set aside.
In its decision, the Board recognized that the airline clearly needed to
take action to reduce its costs, and accordingly the Board has ordered the
parties to continue their discussions to try to find ways in which to mitigate
the identified surplus resulting from the September 11 events.
While lay-offs are always a regrettable last resort, the impact of the
events of September 11 have been devastating to the airline industry and were
clearly not contemplated by the CAW or Air Canada when entering into the
collective agreement arrived at in September 2000. Air Canada will continue to
pursue all efforts with the union to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution
in a timely fashion. The parties are required to report to the Board by
October 23 to report on progress.
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