Air Canada flight attendants union takes fight to Parliament Hill
Posted Oct 22, 2011 04:53:48 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Boisterous demonstrators showed up in front of Parliament Hill’s centre block Friday to protest government interference in collective bargaining.
They carried signs berating Labour Minister Lisa Raitt and lamenting what they see as the impending demise of labour relations under a government that appears to be siding with management.
CUPE president Paul Moist said by intervening in disputes like Air Canada and Canada Post, government is tipping the balance of free and fair collective bargaining toward management.
Moist said a decision to go to third-party arbitration was not the union’s first choice but, after the government referred the dispute to the Canada Labour Board, he said it was the right decision.
He addressed part of his speech directly to Raitt, who has threatened to back-to-work legislation if the flight attendants walk out.
Moist said if Raitt believes in the free-market economy, she should stop compromising free collective-bargaining rights by interference, first with back-to-work legislation in the case of Canada Post, then by referring the Air Canada dispute to the labour board.
