By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian government will not intervene to end a dispute between Air Canada and its pilots but plans to pressure both sides to avoid a strike, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday.
A shutdown could come into effect as early as September 18. Air Canada and its low-cost subsidiary Air Canada Rouge together operate nearly 670 flights a day, and a shutdown could affect 110,000 passengers and cargo daily.
Aviation and business groups want the Liberal government to force the two sides into binding arbitration before a strike begins, an idea Trudeau has rejected.
“I’m not going to put my thumb on the scale of either side. It’s up to Air Canada and the pilots’ union to do the work to figure out how to make sure they don’t harm millions of Canadians,” he said. told reporters in Quebec.
“Every time there’s a strike, people say, ‘Oh, let the government solve the problem’ – we’re not going to do that. We believe in collective bargaining, and we will continue to pressure people to do it.”
Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon met with both the company and the union on Thursday. The two parties are still far apart when it comes to wages.
MacKinnon has broad powers to deal with disputes and last month intervened within 24 hours to end a strike at the country’s two largest railway companies. Canadian Pacific (NYSE:) Kansas City and Canadian National Railway (TSX:).
Air Canada says this sets a precedent. But while Ottawa has intervened in labor disputes several times in recent decades, it has done so only after the strikes began, and not before.
“We’re not going to get involved, we’re not going to take any action until it becomes really clear that there is no good will at the negotiating table,” Trudeau said.
The Business Council of Canada, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce issued a joint statement Friday calling on Ottawa to intervene to prevent a strike before it starts.
