unions, employees and employers

Re: Air Canada negotiations

In this economic climate it is a shame that everyone cannot work together to create a strategy that will look after all stakeholders: employees, retirees, business travellers, business owners, and the travelling public. And airline travel is, after all, not a right but a business that those who chose to use must pay for - not the taxpayer. Air Canada lost $1 billion last year.

The economy, the cost of gas, the cost of travel has been taken up by clever entrepreneurs, like WestJet, who have written new business policies, and changed their employee strategies, to take this business into the new millennium. Air Canada, a legacy airline, with pensioned employees that weigh down current union members, continues to fight for survival. Labour concessions on the part of airlines, like the Brits, mean reduced travel routes, reduced options for travellers, and more time wasted trying to get from here to there. Air Canada used to be government-owned, but that is a long time ago. Such private business corporations have unionized employees who cannot see the big picture.

The high cost of travel is based on employees who make high wages for fairly unskilled work, as well as the high cost of fuel, and underfunded pension plans. The baggage handlers (many are 50-somethings with bad backs) and flight attendants being replaced by 'cheap and cheerful' services on competitor's airlines, with lower wages but an increasing market share. Where else could such people make $50,000/year, except in the auto industry ($70,000/yr. to build cars) but then we know what has happened to THAT industry.

Pension issues are a difficult topic. Retirees are unable to vote. Many need pensions to survive. Yet, our tax dollars cannot build bridges for the automotive industry either. With fewer Canadians employed, fewer tax dollars available, but an aging citizenry with bigger health care needs, we are at a rock and a hard place.

I think it is time to set blame aside and consider the needs of people, not unions, unions leaders, or employers. Otherwise, there will be no options. There isn't a huge market for these skilled employees (e.g.,machinists) in Canada. There have been 474,000 job cuts in Canada between October and June, according to Statistics Canada. And all of us will lose out if all stakeholders do not change their vision of Canadian industry. The success with which the world views Canadian economics will be moot.

Competition high in sky- As WestJet boosts service, Air Canada vows to fight for market share TheChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada MONTREAL COMPETITION is heating up between Canada's two largest airlines as Air Canada vowed this week to compete ...

Getting Real -- it's reality check time Financial Post - Toronto,Ontario,Canada That does not bode well for Air Canada employees, who would like to win back concessions they made when the airline plunged into bankruptcy early this ... This is an interesting read (Left Turn-below): when employers are trying to create two-tier employees, some grandfathered with benefits, others not. It does not seem fair to me. I pay several hundred dollars a month for heath care benefits, being a retired teacher. They just demanded that retired auto workers contribute $30/month. Seems right to me.

Left Turn:: Cyber-scabbing? Lessons for labour from the Windsor ... By Andrew Taylor Members of the largest union at Air Canada have narrowly voted to reject an extraordinary agreement that would have frozen their wages for the next 21 months and allowed the company to suspend payments into the employee pension plan.