Originally Posted by
Biscuittin
Your own post seems to contain several incorrect assumptions. It isn't a given that negotiators from the rank and file will be the most senior. ALPA's MEC Chair at AC is, I believe a 2018 hire. In any airline labour negotiations in Canada that I have observed, either tentative agreements or the company's final offer are put to the membership usually with a recommendation to accept or to reject. Only when an agreement fails ratification or when no agreement is reached do things proceed to a strike vote. Strike votes are not held "well prior to this" as you claim, or at least they haven't been in any airline bargaining in Canada with which I'm familiar. I'm cannot think of any any case in which negotiations with an airline in Canada have dragged out for "even years" although that certainly happens in the US.
Unions are under no obligation to bring a company's "final offer" to a vote. And many do not bring a tentative agreement to the members unless they believe it will pass. Sometimes strike votes are even held prior to the beginning of bargaining. This is Canadian Labour Law though. I am not sure what the US does.
Originally Posted by
billdokes
Oh, and one more thing for further clarity on the process, just because the contract ends on Sept 30 doesn't mean that the pilots could or would be in a 'legal strike position' on that day and that somehow AC is going to be disrupted or shutter on Oct 1. Sometimes negotiations drag out for months or even years with Union Members technically 'working without a Contract' during that period. The terms and conditions of the expired contract hold and generally any changes in the future contract ie: wage gains, are made retroactive to the expiry date of the previous contract to keep members whole.
Correct. Also, the union and company have to go before the CIRB (Canadian Industiral Relation Board) to get an MOAA (Memorandum of Activities Agreement) prior to legal job action starting. A previously agreed to MOAA can be used if both parties agree.