AirCan, pilots’ union lengthen mediation
OTTAWA — Air Canada (TSX:AC.B) and the union representing its pilots have agreed to extended mediation and the government expects them to hammer out a new deal, Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said Wednesday.
Raitt told the House of Commons she’s received official agreement from both the union and the airline they will participate in the six-month process.
“I am very grateful for the work that they are going to put in,” Raitt said. “We expect them to get a deal.”
The pilots have given their union an overwhelming mandate to call a strike and the airline is in a legal position to impose a new contract or lock them out.
However, both sides have said they will not use those options while talks continue.
An earlier, two-month effort by a representative of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was unable to bring the two sides together.
