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Machinists Union head says Air Canada CEO Milton is author of airline mess |
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TORONTO, April 3 /CNW/ - Dave Ritchie, Canadian Vice President of the Machinists Union has told his 15,000 members at Air Canada that the airline's CEO Robert Milton should "look in the mirror to find out who is responsible for the sorry state of labour relations," which has brought the carrier to the brink of bankruptcy. In a bristling letter to the membership Ritchie tells them not to accept the blame being pasted on therm by Milton, and chronicles the obstruction and deceit which have plagued the bargaining process over the past 10 months, frustrating the union's attempt to negotiate a deal. He says: "Air Canada management that has been dishonest, deceitful, and unwilling to do more than go through the motions. It is Robert Milton who needs to find 'a new way of doing business.' "After telling the world over the last couple of years how well Air Canada was doing . . . Milton suddenly came forward on February 6 with a demand for 20% or $650 million in annual labour cost savings from all unionized groups, demanding a response by March 15. "At the same time as they claimed to be bargaining in good faith, Air Canada management was secretly preparing an application for bankruptcy protection that would tear up all of their collective agreements (even as they were agreeing to them), gut wages and pensions and tear Air Canada apart." The letter also says the Corporation's Board of Directors is using the recourse to the Companies' Creditors Arrangements Act (CCAA) to "cover the(ir) butts". In addition to "an existing $30 million trust fund, the CCAA filing provides another $170 million indemnity to protect Directors from any claims." Ritchie concludes saying a good start for recovery might be to "get rid of some of those dozens of corporate vice-presidents, and dropping the idea of tearing Air Canada apart and creating extra layers of corporate bureaucracy. Maybe one way to deal with Air Canada's cost problems is cut back on the payments to lawyers and investment bankers." The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) is the largest union at Air Canada and is the largest air transport union in Canada and in North America. -30- For further information: Dave Ritchie, 416.386.1789; |
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