Release #: SPR 24.01
April 02, 2024

PAL Aerospace Pilots File for Federal Conciliation

St. John’s, N.L.—PAL Aerospace pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), yesterday filed a Notice of Dispute and Request for Conciliation Assistance with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service with regard to collective bargaining at their company. The federal conciliation process allows the PAL Aerospace pilot group the opportunity to seek government assistance to secure their first collective agreement with their employer. The pilots and management began formal negotiations in March 2021.

“Although progress has been made over the last three years with a majority of the contract tentatively agreed upon, the process has slowed to the point where it has now been many months since we’ve had any positive movement toward finalizing our first collective agreement. In some cases, management has gone backwards from previously agreed-upon topics,” said Capt. Stephen Young, chair of the PAL Aerospace ALPA Master Executive Council. “We are incredibly frustrated with the tempo and management’s approach to this process, which led to our decision to seek government assistance to conclude negotiations.”

With this request for conciliation, the Minister of Labour now has 15 days to appoint a conciliation officer. Once appointed, the conciliator will work with the parties for 60 days to reach an agreement. If both parties remain at an impasse following conciliation (and unless the parties agree to extend conciliation), a 21-day cooling-off period would begin before the parties can engage in self-help.

“As the aviation industry continues to improve, our pilots are stuck working with outdated wages and working conditions, as we are among some of the lowest paid pilots in the country,” Young remarked. “While continuing to help the airline earn a profit, pilots are operating understaffed and are unfairly compensated compared to other pilots in Canada. Many of our pilots are highly specialized for the diversity of our operations and are not adequately compensated to reflect their experience and skills. PAL Aerospace pilots will seek better employment opportunities elsewhere unless management quickly focuses on improving our pilots’ compensation, ability to utilize seniority across internal company divisions, and providing basic improvements to our working conditions.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 77,000 pilots at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Visit ALPA.org or follow us on Twitter @ALPAPilots.

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CONTACT: ALPA Media, 703-481-4440 or Media@alpa.org