Air Canada Pilots Ask CIRB Chair Lordon For Emergency Hearing
Citing the "harsh and punitive impacts" of a just-released arbitration award, the Air Canada Pilots Association is making an urgent appeal for an emergency Canadian Industrial Relations Board hearing.
In a letter to Paul Lordon, Chair of the CIRB, from ACPA legal counsel Steve Waller, the Air Canada pilots detail the profound consequences of the award issued June 16, 2003, by arbitrator Brian Keller. The Keller decision deals with the Air Canada seniority lists that resulted from the merger of Air Canada and Canadian Airlines in January 2000.
Waller writes, "To a degree that is shocking, the Keller award has made all but a few original Air Canada pilots losers, and all but a few former Canadian pilots huge winners." He provides detailed examples of the impact on Air Canada pilots who will face pay cuts of thousands of dollars and have their careers stalled because of inequities resulting from the Keller award.
Waller points out that in a previous CIRB decision (#183) on the merged seniority lists, Mr. Lordon said that the Keller arbitration must "be consistent with the principles set out" in that decision, and that "any settlement will be subject to Board review." It is ACPA's position that the Keller decision ignores or violates the principles of Decision 183.
ACPA is asking Mr. Lordon for an urgent hearing because of upcoming events related to the financial situation of Air Canada.