Air Canada pilots have voted┬аto ratify a new four-year labour deal with the country’s largest┬аcarrier, the union said on Thursday, eliminating the risk of a work stoppage,┬аdespite concerns by some members about pay for┬аentry-level aviators.
The agreement received 67 per cent┬аvotes in favour, said the Air Line┬аPilots Association (ALPA), which represents the workers.
Air Canada averted a strike in September by reaching a┬аlast-minute deal with the union, which represents more than┬а 5,200 of its pilots. But the tentative agreement was widely┬аcriticized by pilots on social media and even within the union┬аlocal.
Airline union president Charlene Hudy had told a virtual┬аmeeting that she would resign if the deal were rejected, two Air┬аCanada pilots told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
One committee member in the local quit his post, citing a┬а“fundamental disagreement” with the direction taken by the union┬аin presenting the agreement to members.
The airline had been at the negotiating table with the union┬аfor the past 15 months, with the pilots demanding wages that┬аwould narrow the pay gap with their American counterparts at┬аcarriers like United Airlines.┬а
