Dies kam gestern nachbörslich hinterher:
"Air Canada pension deal in dispute
By CRAIG WONG
2004-03-31 18:38:00 TORONTO (CP) - Conflicting announcements from Air Canada's largest union threatened what appeared to be a key agreement on pensions Wednesday that would have smoothed the bumpy path towards a restructuring of the insolvent airline.
Early Wednesday, the Montreal-based District lodge 140 of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced a deal had been reached with the airline. Hours later, however, the union's national office in Toronto said the lodge did not have the authority to strike the deal.
The union infighting means the pension dispute continues to threaten an eventual restructuring of Air Canada, which faces an April 15 deadline to get a deal between its proposed main shareholder and the unions on changes to the pension plan.
The machinists said its Toronto headquarters told Air Canada months ago that it had taken over the bargaining on pension issues after the airline went into bankruptcy protection a year ago Thursday.
"There is no deal and Air Canada knows it," said Dave Ritchie, the Canadian leader of the international union.
"Our position on the pension issue with Air Canada remains unchanged and it will stay that way. Our members pensions are not negotiable."
Calls to the district lodge office, which is responsible for the Machinists' transportation sector in Canada, were not returned Wednesday.
However, in an earlier statement, the lodge said a deal had been reached that would give current employees a choice of staying in a defined-benefit plan or switching to a defined-contribution plan.
"This agreement provides all our members with the right to choose the pension program that's best for them according to their personal circumstances," said Jean Jallet, union president at district lodge 140.
Air Canada spokeswoman Laura Cooke said in the past, contracts between the airline and the Machinists union were negotiated with the district lodge.
"The May 2003 restructuring negotiations were conducted by Mr. Jallet and he also signed that agreement as well," Cooke said.
The pension deal appeared at first to shatter a united front the airline's unions had presented in opposing making any changes to their pension plans.
If the Machinists ended up breaking ranks, it would have ratcheted up the pressure on Air Canada's other unions to strike similar deals. The other unions have maintained that they've already agreed to give up more than $1 billion annually in concessions in return for protection of their pension plans.
Don Johnson, head of Air Canada Pilots Association, said Wednesday that his union's opposition to pension changes has not changed, but as always it would be willing to talk about it with the airline.
"We have a standing policy that if our company calls us and says we need to talk we go and we talk," Johnson said.
Gary Fane of the Canadian Auto Workers, which represents customer service staff at Air Canada, also said he's willing to listen, but he didn't know what the company would say.
"If they're saying to me exactly what they've been saying to me in the past, 'Just give it to us,' it will be difficult to imagine the union would do something like that," Fane said of the deal with the Machinists.
The agreement announced by the Machinists lodge - representing 11,500 technical operations, ground service, clerical and financial personnel - was similar to one that Trinity Time Investments, the proposed new controlling shareholder in Air Canada (TSX:AC), presented to non-union employees.
It is a compromise from an earlier proposal by Trinity that would have forced new and younger employees into a defined-contribution plan, while older employees and retirees would have remained on the defined-benefit plan.
Under the agreement with non-union workers, current employees who opt for the defined-contribution plan will receive a bonus of 10 per cent of their base annual salary. New employees will receive a defined-contribution plan.
Headed by Hong Kong businessman Victor Li, Trinity is reviewing its proposed $650-million investment in Air Canada and has threatened to walk away if the pension changes were not made.
Defined-contribution pensions are easier for a company to budget for, because if a defined-benefit plan's investments decline in value, the employer must make up the difference to pay predetermined benefits.
The agreement comes as the airline's board of directors reviews the airline's updated business plan and 2003 financial statements in which Air Canada is expected to report a massive loss.
Under its current agreement with Trinity and GE Capital Aviation Services, which is to provide $1.5 billion US in financing and restructure leases on 108 aircraft, Air Canada must emerge from creditor protection by the end of April.
The court overseeing Air Canada's restructuring extended the airline's creditor protection earlier this week to April 15, by which time Trinity is expected to decide whether to proceed with its investment and on what terms."
http://money.canoe.ca/News/2004/01/08/307981-cp.html
Da scheint es einen Konflikt zwischen der lokalen Gewerkschaftsvertretung und der Zentrale zu geben. Die Lokalen sind natürlich näher dran und kriegen wahrscheinlich Zunder von ihren Mitgliedern. Die Zentrale sitzt schön weit weg und reitet noch ein bisschen Prinzipien. Irge4ndwie ist Canada gar nicht so weit weg, oder? Kommt einem doch bekannt vor!
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