Free collective bargaining must be defended

[Link] Like many other travelers, I had been closely monitoring the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) Canada bargaining last week and was thrilled to hear that they were able to achieve a tentative agreement with their employer, Air Canada. This agreement is an excellent example of how the constitutional right to free collective bargaining is the fairest, most balanced way to achieve contracts that work for both Employers and Employees.

Over the last few days of their 'cooling-off period,' as the deadline approached to allow the Union to issue their strike notice, I saw the rhetoric of the Employer escalate as they pushed the Government to intervene and impose binding arbitration on the parties. The Union was being "unreasonable" in their demands, they said, and were inflexible with their proposals (especially about wages).

Funny how, when the Government declined to interfere with the bargaining process and the Union was able to use their right to strike as leverage, an acceptable compromise was miraculously found!

I'm sure a lot of math was done to compare the impact of a strike with the cost of increased wages on the airline's profits, and Air Canada quickly realized that 'slightly less profit' off of the labour of the pilots is still profit, as opposed to the zero dollars they would make without their work.

Workers know the value of their contributions. When that value is not being appreciated, the most powerful tool that workers have at their disposal is the right to withdraw their labour.

On Prince Edward Island, the vast majority of CUPE workers do not have the right to strike. These workers are completely dependent on the Government having the political will to bargain fair collective agreements - something that seems to be occurring with less and less frequency here. From wage rollbacks under the Liberal government in the '90s to the low-ball offers of the current King Conservatives, front-line workers in many of our essential services are falling farther and farther behind on PEI.

But why should the government offer more than the bare minimum to workers, secure in the knowledge that, at the end of the day, an arbitrator will impose a settlement? This arrangement encourages Employers to come in with lower offers for workers so that a 'compromise in the middle' is lower, too.

Having the right to strike doesn't necessarily mean that workers will go on strike, as the Air Canada deal this week demonstrates - the right to strike just evens the playing field so that workers' perspectives and interests are given equal weight at the bargaining table. Without that leverage, Employers have less motivation to bargain in good faith or offer decent wage increases or improved working conditions.

CUPE PEI congratulates the Air Line Pilots Association Canada for demanding and achieving more and better from an employer posting increasing profits and for claiming their fair share of the fruits of their labour!

In solidarity,
Ashley Clark
President, CUPE PEI