Seniority & Scope
We pledge to protect the seniority of every Air Canada pilot.
Seniority determines the course of our careers and is the cornerstone of every contract. The current crisis unfolding across the globe underscores the continued requirement for strong seniority provisions that protect our careers, especially as we navigate through furloughs and potential corporate mergers. However, the value of our seniority is reduced in the absence of a solid contract.
Predictable, consistent rules that guarantee a reasonable standard of work should be available to all pilots in all circumstances. Experience tells us vague scheduling rules, “B-Scale” agreements including LOU’s that fragment the contract and so called “socialized bidding” programs all work to undermine our seniority and create divisions within our membership. We should strive to reduce these divisions, or to the extent possible, eliminate them entirely. Furthermore, neglecting the entry-level working conditions means junior pilots escape to LCC positions where alternate work rules offer a minimum quality of life, undermining the legitimacy of our seniority system. We must work to improve the conditions at the bottom and elevate them to a basic standard so that seniority retakes its rightful place as a complement to decent work. In simple terms, “All flying is Air Canada Flying– at Air Canada Standards, on Air Canada Rules.”
In terms of our current scope agreements, we believe the common employer issue with our regional affiliates is in the rearview mirror, and as part of the pilot community in Canada we must focus on the road ahead. The past has taught us that protecting the seniority rights of our most junior pilots is foundational. However, we also recognize the need to look at our profession in a holistic way, acknowledging the needs of pilots as they move through their careers. We support specific initiatives that simultaneously protect Air Canada pilots’ seniority rights, increase profession-wide mobility and support a culture of professional respect across airline pilot groups.
HOW CAN We Protect Seniority AND ALSO Support the Profession?
Professional respect: All pilots affiliated with the Air Canada brand, mainline or express, should be considered first and foremost fellow professionals deserving of our respect.
Increased mobility: Pilots moving between airlines should be recognized for the experience they bring to the position, especially since management themselves recognize their value as tenured professionals.
Portable benefits: We should explore opportunities to develop and expand profession-wide benefits programs that are portable between carriers (i.e., pension and insurance plans)
Minimum wages and working conditions: We need to improve contract language to ensure a minimum level quality-of-life for everyone arriving at the airline (i.e., greater schedule predictability, enhanced reserve rules, guaranteed personal days, monthly caps and robust flexibility tools such as trip trade)
Envision a better future for the next generation: Looking to the future, we should endeavour to build a sustainable national hiring strategy, support industry-standard pay rates and establish profession-wide hiring pools that acknowledge experience to ensure the next generation has better protections from the negative impacts of outsourcing, mergers, bankruptcies, technological change, economic crisis and the like.