The Vancouver International Airport strike notice and back-to-work orders

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      Vancouver International Airport could face job action by workers as soon as Friday (August 30).

      That's according to a news release issued this morning by the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

      It and the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees Local 20221 represent approximately 300 Vancouver Airport Authority employees.

      In recent years, the Conservative government has been quick to pass legislation forcing striking airline employees to go back to work.

      It happened in 2012 with Air Canada pilots, machinists, and ground crews.

      In 2011, Air Canada's flight attendants reached a tentative deal shortly after then-labour minister Lisa Raitt threatened to order them back on the job.

      But these fiats require the government to pass legislation. And if Vancouver air traffic shuts down because other unions honour airport workers' picket lines, it raises questions how local MPs will get back to Ottawa to vote on any prospective legislation.

      If recent history serves as any guide, I don't expect to see many flights cancelled as long as Prime Minister Stephen Harper remains prime minister.

      Instead, we'll see a lot of harrumphing in the media from tourism officials, union representatives, and the spokesperson for the airport authority.

      And if the government gets to the point of issuing a back-to-work order, the Canadian Labour Congress and the B.C. Federation of Labour will say this is a national outrage.

      And their allies in Parliament will filibuster to delay the inevitable passage of legislation.

      Then within a couple of months, almost everyone will have forgotten about this except for the workers who were stripped of their primary bargaining chip against management.

      Comments

      3 Comments

      CONS

      Aug 27, 2013 at 4:24pm

      Neo-CONservatives preach Free Markets EXCEPT in practice in the Real World they firmly believe in Corporate Welfare.

      e.g.,

      * Protect Air Commnie,

      * Subsidize Big Oil because their Record Profits are simply not enough LOL.

      And now from the so called small Government Free Market CONS, INTERVENTION and CENTRAL CONTROL Ordering Slaves (workers in the Cons eyes are all Slaves) back to work!

      So much for Free Markets and Right to Strike or Not, Work or Not :)

      steveB

      Aug 27, 2013 at 9:17pm

      How can you order people back to work after you've prorogued parliament?

      Seek (Search) and Even You Will Find steveB

      Aug 28, 2013 at 10:09am

      The Prorogue of Parliament is neither permanent or long term.

      Wiki...via Google Search = Amazing...

      n the British and Canadian parliamentary systems, the legislature is typically prorogued upon the completion of the agenda set forth in the Speech from the Throne, called in the UK the legislative programme, and remain in recess until the monarch, governor-general, lieutenant governor, or governor summons parliamentarians again.

      In Canada, however, prorogations have triggered speculation that they were advised by the sitting prime minister for political purposes: for example, in the 40th Parliament, the first prorogation occurred in the midst of a parliamentary dispute, in which the opposition parties expressed intent to defeat the minority government, and the second was suspected by opposition Members of Parliament to be a way to avoid investigations into the Afghan detainees affair and triggered citizen protests.

      Since you post here are you able to use Google or any other Search Engine to search? Do you need a How To?

      Perhaps learning a bit about the Laws and Political process / structure of the Country you live in might enlighten you.