Community emboldens us
The Air Canada Pilots have a long history of leadership in the community of professional pilots. From the beginning, the pilots of Trans Canada Airlines (TCA) realized the profound strength of a unified profession and formed the Canadian Airline Pilots Association (CALPA), an association that represented pilots from airlines large and small from across the country. Then, just as now, pilots knew that “the bottom of the pattern sets the pattern”, and only with shared knowledge, resources and and solidarity could the pilots at the top of the industry be sure their wages and conditions would not be eroded from the bottom.
After World War II, Canada’s pilots broadened the global community of pilots as founding members in the International Federation of Airline Pilots (IFALPA), securing a pilot voice at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Our predecessors knew that our unique perspectives would be of significant benefit to the decisions made at the highest levels of our industry. IFALPA continues to advocate today as the “global voice of pilots”, bringing those perspectives before regulators, manufacturers, governments and corporate leaders around the world.
Aviation is an elite profession that we are privileged to belong to, but since we left CALPA and became independent we are on the outside looking in. While ACPA maintains important connections through the Associations of Star Alliance Pilots (ASAP), the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the Air Canada Council of Unions, we are no longer members of a national pilot union or international federation. Our voice is not being heard, and our tradition of leadership in the global community has faded into the past.
We will need the strength of community as we rebuild our profession from the fallout of the current crisis, one that has thrown our careers into chaos. A strong, unified community of professionals both in Canada and around the world is what we need more than ever.
"Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation, and consensus."
Simon Mainwaring
HOW DO WE JOIN THE COMMUNITY?
Organizing the unorganized: Supporting unionizing campaigns and backing the labour movement more broadly is important as pilot jobs evolve under changing technologies, regulations and employment arrangements. Only with strong support for these activities can we mobilize against negative contract trends, artificially low wages and unfair concessions.
Share our knowledge: Understanding what other pilot groups have faced allows us to better prepare as we sit at the negotiating table, and having a common strategy allows us to ladder up on each others’ successes.
Speak with one voice: Communicating on behalf of all pilots, from a single source gives us leverage. This ensures we are raising the bar for our profession and not lowering it in a time of crisis. Governments, regulators, manufacturers and employers all respond when pilots are united on an issue.
Take the lead: As Air Canada pilots we hold a position of respect and status. Sharing strategies and tactics with our peers at different levels of our industry can bolster their bench strength with fresh perspectives, alternate approaches and winning arguments- especially for pilot groups with limited resources and experience.
Engage locally: When we stand shoulder to shoulder with our neighbours and get involved in our local communities it builds the solidarity and support we need to win in the public eye.
Full membership in the profession: Complete the ACPA Unity Initiative project with ALPA International, and decide if membership meets the evolving needs of Air Canada pilots. Seek membership in the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) and access the global support network– a union pilot from virtually any country worldwide to your flight deck door in a moment of crisis.