Amid rumblings of discontent among the members the leader of Air Canada's pilots' union says she'll quit if they reject the tentative contract offer for which she led the negotiations. Charlene Hudy, a Boeing 737 first officer, told fellow pilots in a virtual town hall hosted by the Air Canada unit of the Air Line Pilots Association she would have "no choice" but to resign if they turn the deal down. “If the membership votes no to this (tentative agreement), it would clearly indicate to the public, media, government and company that I no longer speak on your behalf,” she said during a Q and A session whose transcript was obtained by Canadian Press
It’s always easy to reject a deal for some (perceived) lack, but one shouldn’t do that without knowing who’s gonna negotiate another and if you can expect them to get a better deal. I don’t know about the AC situation but if that different treatment of junior pilots doesn’t amount to a B-scale and is temporary only, those junior pilots should probably take a look at their long-term perspectives before deciding to reject.
She is not a leader. She should resign now. The deal does not address all of the moneys lost due to inflation over the past four years. The current deal on the table is barely a break even deal. It should be rejected.
Gutsy move saying this is my best effort, and so I endorse it, and will not continue without it.
The message - take this or else I quit - is sent to both management, and the pilot group - cuts so many ways - is the message to management that if the group doesn’t take this, they are being unreasonable? Is the message to management that if it fails, it’s because my “ask” was so low that you must come to reality with a new group?
Why telegraph this at all? Why not simply say to management, “I can sell this deal,” and then either sell it successfully, or tell managment that “I was being unrealistic, and you must up the deal?”
Is this deal “selling out,” the junior pilots? Is this the shading of a B scale?
In any event, this is an interesting case - with many nuances - we’ll soon know the outcome, but it won’t settle the question about whether the tactics were a smart strategy. I’m not there, so I don’t know all the reasoning behind her decision - but it is a head turning decision.
I recall seeing this from union negotiating heads several times over the years but have no sense of how it may have done statistically in terms of swaying membership vote. One could conclude, though, it does indicate the issuer doesn’t consider their union position the be-all and end-all of their career. This can be viewed as good or bad depending on your outlook, but I wouldn’t consider it a moral failure.
This is not a B scale issue. This short fall dates back to bankruptcy in 2003 and the last ten year 2%/yr in 2014. The cumulative pay might have been acceptable if the company had made any effort to repair numerous quality of life issues, broadly scheduling, duty credit guarantees, and vacation. The company could have attracted junior pilots by limiting flat salary to one year versus four for new hires. Pilots are giving up a lot to come to AC and are required to live in Canada’s most expensive cities … difficult at 50k a year.
It’s been my observation that, after flying for a U.S. Carrier for 32 years, that the younger generation of Pilots, generally speaking, are not at all interested in “paying their dues” they want everything that the Senior Pilots have earned through years of hard work, right now! Put your time in, like we have, and then when you get to where we are, you can reap the benefits. The sense of entitlement and instant gratification has not been a part of Airline flying for the past 50 plus years.
I completely understand her position. Basically, she is saying, “I’m worn out trying please everyone”, “If this doesn’t work for you, find someone else who can”
I concur - the “I’m worn out if this doesn’t work,” I understand - what I think is controversial is announcing it - both to the pilot group, and to management. Without knowing her motivations for doing that, I’m not judging - I would love to talk to her, and see what she was thinking - but in any event, it’s an interesting choice.
The simplest solution is, then go somewhere else. If Air Canada cannot recruit new Pilots, because they are unable to survive on 50K a year, then the natural forces of supply and demand take over.
Unfortunately there are only two major airlines in Canada and the nature of the industry (vis a vis seniority) means once you choose you’ve bought in and are “trapped”. Your comment reflects the typical man on the street view - do something else, go elsewhere, you knew when you applied.
To summarize, the money at AC isn’t bad until you compare it to anywhere else (EU, UK, US) and the working conditions (scheduling, training, vacation) are the worst in the wider industry.