CANADIAN LABOUR-AIR CANADA:

AIR CANADA PENSION DEAL REACHED:

This country's perpetually floundering air carrier, Air Canada, has reached an tentative deal with the five unions that represent its employees (CAW, CUPE, IAMAW, the Air Canada Pilots Association and the Canadian Airline Dispatchers Association) over the long festering matter of the airline's pension obligations. Air Canada, of course, should stand as the eternal poster child for the reality that ideologues of both the right and the left can never admit ie that some outfits will be woefully mismanaged no matter whether they in private or public hands.

The matter of the pensions was merely another of a seemingly endless string of near death experiences that have threatened to throw Air Canada into bankruptcy over the years. The deal agreed to by the unions has all the odour of a "making due with a bad situation". See Molly's comments at the end of this article. For now, here's the story from the CBC.

<><><><><><><><>
Air Canada workers to be shareholders after pension deal:
The Canadian Press
Unionized employees at Air Canada are about to become shareholders with a 15 per cent stake in the airline, for agreeing to a year-and-a-half pension moratorium.

The Montreal-based airline plans to issue more than 17.6 million class B shares next week to a new trust, on behalf of its Canadian-based unions.

The issued shares are part of an agreement struck in June, in which workers accepted a 21-month moratorium on past service contributions to their pension plans, and $550 million in payments due between 2011 and 2013.

Air Canada said the class B shares won't "materially affect control" of the airline.

As part of the deal, the airline's unions will have the right to designate one member of Air Canada's board of directors ,as long as the trust holds at least two per cent of the outstanding class A and B shares.

That appointee cannot be a member or officer of any of the unions.

Air Canada's class B shares were unchanged at $1.44 in trading Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

<><><><><><><><>

MOLLY NOTES

On the surface of it the above may seem like just the sort of thing that anarchists like Molly and other libertarian socialists advocate ie that ownership of enterprises should be transferred to those who work in them. In actual fact it is the furthest thing from such, and is likely to be a bad deal in general in addition. Let's look at a few of the points raised by the article above.

First of all it has to be admitted that the unions involved have been bargaining "under the gun", as the political climate nowadays is such that our present government seems more than willing to let an enterprise such as Air Canada go into bankruptcy. From the perspective of national interest such enterprises as Nortel (especially) and much of the auto industry in Ontario are much more important than Air Canada, but the Conservative Harperites have been more than willing to see them go under or be seriously pared. There is also no doubt that Air Canada which has been teetering on the verge on insolvency for many years now is actually in danger of having to really bite the bullet at the present time. All that being said is this the best deal that could have been obtained ? Will the full implications of this deal be presented to the memberships of the unions who negotiated the agreement ? Will the members actually get to vote on the deal just as if it was an ordinary collective agreement ? I have serious doubts about all three questions.

What are these "class B" shares that are being talked about ? Class A shares, often referred to as "common shares" have voting rights at stockholders' meetings. Class B (there are other classes, but let's leave that complication aside for now) may have different voting rights. They may have more weight than common shares, but quite often these "preferred shares" (a misnomer if there ever was one) have no voting rights. That seems to be the case in the context of this deal, if one is to believe the statement of Air Canada management as to how these shares won't "materially affect control of the airline". It seems that, just to make sure this is the case, that the deal contains two extra provisos. One is that the shares will be held "in trust" so that their disposition will be out of the control of the unions involved, let alone the membership of said unions. The second proviso is that the lone board member to be appointed by the unions (dollars to dimes this will be from the Pilots' Association) cannot have any formal connection with the unions involved. This assures that only the friendliest (to management) director possible will eventually be appointed, especially as the wheeling and dealing amongst the five unions assures the maximum possible disorder on the part of labour.

The opinion of anarchists, libertarian socialists, those who believe in a "cooperative" form of socialism and those socialists who have finally (after so much historical failure) been weaned from their statism and belief in government owned enterprise about such things is that both formal ownership but especially real control should be transferred from management to democratic bodies of people who actually work in an enterprise. Political differences amongst this group of people revolve around the "speed" of this transfer and the "completeness" of same. Anarchists are at one extreme pole is saying the speed should be 'as fast as possible" and the extent should be "complete".

This deal doesn't even give the union bureaucrats involved any control (aside from haggling over which friend of theirs will receive the perk of a directorship), let alone the ordinary worker. That might be tolerated if the unions involved had been honest about what they were doing. If you want to give Air Canada a loan then honestly admit that is what you are doing- giving Air Canada a loan- and haggle about the best terms of the loan. Unions have done such things before for business, and they have often negotiated better deals than this.

Let's go back to the terms of the shares. Because the shares involved have no voting rights they have no control over future decisions on the part of management to "dilute" their value by issuing further shares. In other words each and every issue of further shares on the part of Air Canada will reduce the value of said shares by a corresponding ratio of the old number divided by the new number. These class B shares have no voting rights about whether such offerings will be put forward. It gets worse. Most class B shares have "back end loads" as opposed to the "front end loads" of class A shares. This means that all the fees of purchasing and selling such shares will happen when one attempts to sell such shares rather than when one purchases them. In other words the actual value of such shares is less than their real value by an uncertain number, depending upon future market conditions. The actual value of the shares in Air Canada is actually less than the book value that appears in the deal. Have these complications been explained to the membership of the unions involved ? I doubt it. Then there is the question of 'transferability'. Suppose that you are 40 years old and that you get laid off by Air Canada tomorrow in the name of 'efficiency'. Your pension benefits are being held "in trust" in an uncertain agreement (that may be changed at management's whim) for your former union with a corporation with an uncertain future. Does this say that the whole thing is "uncertain" to you ? What you have given up is a defined pension, with whatever uncertainty it may contain over transferability, for something that has two or three extra levels of uncertainty about it. If you are laid off do you still have any rights to the benefits, large or small as they may be, of the class B shares 20 years from now when you retire ? Who the hell knows. In the majority of cases probably not.

For purposes of comparison let's compare this Air Canada offer (and its acceptance on the part of the unions) to the West Jet Employee Ownership program. I do not intend to glorify the West jet program as an example of libertarian socialism in action. Its structure, along with its profit sharing plans, also solidify management control of the corporation, as surely (but with less hypocrisy) as the Air Canada/union agreement. Its greatest benefit to the ordinary worker, that his or her common (class A) shares are individually held and may be sold at any time after one year of holding, is also a guarantee of eternal management control in that the employee shares are dispersed and lack any mechanism of collective power to influence corporate policy. As a "gamble" it is, however, a better gamble as the employee is free to invest up to 20% of his or her salary in the 'stock option' to buy West jet stock, a sum that the company will match dollar for dollar in terms of real investment. Compare this to the Air Canada deal where employees are asked to give up benefits that they "thought" were their property for an uncertain return that they have no control of (they cannot sell out individually) and that they may not receive at all.

There are undoubtedly many other reasons why West Jet continues to make a profit, even in times of increased fuel prices and in times of recession. while Air Canada continues to lose money year after year. Their profit sharing agreement and their share options for employees are only two of these reasons, but they are important ones. Managerial caution in terms of expansion may be another very important factor. For most of us, Molly included, our acquaintance with airlines is only as customers. All that I can say from my flying experience is that the rather informal and non-hierarchical atmosphere os West Jet is a much more pleasant experience than flying via Air Canada. Christ on the Cross, they actually have humour. I know very well that simply giving employees latitude and a certain amount of freedom on the job is not the same as real workers' control. It still, however, is an advance. I would much rather fly West Jet, given a choice, than Air Canada, and the generally lower price is only one factor.

So what would I say in conclusion ? It would be my preference that ant such loan !!!!! to Air Canada would have been made under conditions of collective control by the membership of the unions involved ie that the shares would have been ordinary common shares vested in unions who had democratic voting procedures over their disposition. Barring that it would have been better that the loan granting procedure have been explicit and that better guarantees for the rights of the individual members would have been in place.

CANADIAN POLITICS/CANADIAN LABOUR:

ANOTHER 'PRIVATIZATION BY STEALTH' ?:

Molly has recently received the following item from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). I have never actually considered the hows, whys and wherefores of the allocation of takeoff and landing rights (known as 'slots') before this, but I can easily see how they may be one of the more valuable assets that an airline can possess. An airport, after all, cannot operate on a 'first come, first served' basis. There has to be an orderly allocation of who goes up and who goes down and at what time. I can also see very plainly how such a resource has to be regulated by someone outside of the airline industry, both for the good of individual countries and because of the fact that it would be hard to find another industry where so-called "free competition" would so rapidly result in monopoly.

Air Canada, of course, has staggered from one financial crisis to another in the past few years. Its main competition, Westjet, as an "imperfect producers' coop" runs circles around AC in almost all aspects. There is little doubt as well that its very existence, like that of the CBC, is anathema to those in the ruling Conservative Party who actually care more about economics than social conservative optics. Like the CBC those around Harper would gladly see Air Canada euthanized, and it seems they may have actually come up with a plan to accomplish this goal- without raising a political stink by doing it honestly. Selling off landing slots as collateral to private lenders is actually the best way imaginable to accomplish this goal. Sorta like the perfect murder. Here's what CUPE has to say about the matter..

CPCPCPCPCPCPCP

Don't pledge Air Canada's landing slots:
CUPE is asking Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to stop Air Canada from pledging its landing slots to a group of private lenders.
Email Finance Minister Flaherty

The landing slots - including some at Heathrow Airport in London - are the airline's crown jewels, says CUPE Air Canada Component president Katherine Thompson. "Once they're sold, they can't be bought back."

Reuters reports that Air Canada is seeking a $600 million loan from a group of private financiers and the federal government. To back that loan, the company wants to use the landing slots as part of the collateral.

But Thompson said the government should provide the entire loan instead. That way Canada would still control the landing slots if the airline failed or filed for bankruptcy protection.

The union also proposed guaranteeing only the government's portion of the loan with the landing slots.

"Without these slots, Canada would no longer be capable of supporting an international carrier," Thompson said.

CPCPCPCPCPCPCP

THE LETTER:

Go to the link above to send the following letter to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

CPCPCPCPCPCPCP

Air Canada flight attendants have made considerable sacrifices to keep Air Canada alive. For its part, Air Canada has agreed to extend its contract with CUPE.
As part of this deal, the company committed to protecting the landing slots it owns at airports around the world, especially London's Heathrow airport.
Without these landing slots Air Canada cannot function as an international carrier.
CUPE agreed to a pension moratorium in part because Air Canada committed to make its best effort to protect these slots and offer them as collateral only to a government lender.
Now I learn that the company has asked you to let them pledge these landing slots as collateral to a consortium of mostly corporate lenders.
That wasn't the deal.
For Air Canada, it's the equivalent of mortgaging the family farm.
Please ensure that Air Canada’s landing and takeoff slots are only pledged to a government lender, capable of keeping the public interest in mind.
Please also give serious consideration to providing of a fully collateralized loan to Air Canada, in a way that avoids the private loan and the risks it poses to both the company’s future and the interests of the nation.
I look forward to a personal response to this message.

CANADIAN LABOUR-HALIFAX:

LET'S GO PREMIER:

In Winnipeg and in Halifax flight attendants continue to agitate against Air Canada's planned closure of their flight attendant bases. Down East the Premier of Nova Scotia has "made an offer", and flight attendants want to see if he will carry through on his promise. Here's the story from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

.......................

Halifax flight attendants want to take Premier up on his offer:
(Halifax) – The union representing almost 200 Air Canada flight attendants based in Halifax wants to take Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald up on his offer from earlier this week.

CUPE Local 4090 President Lisa Vivian Anthony says, “The premier’s Communications Director said MacDonald supports retention of a base in Halifax and would be prepared to quote ‘jump on a plane’ and lead a delegation to Air Canada headquarters in Montreal.

“We’re saying to the premier, let’s go! Just name the date and the flight attendants will be there. With almost 200 jobs on the line, and the future of air travel in Atlantic Canada hanging in the balance, we fully support the idea of a business and all-party group, led by the premier, going to Air Canada to make the case for Atlantic Canada,” says Vivian Anthony.

CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh says, “We need to see some decisive leadership from the premier on this issue. It’s time Nova Scotia stood up to the corporate decision-makers and bean counters at Air Canada and reminded them that dependable air travel in Atlantic Canada is not a luxury – it’s a basic right.”

Says Cavanagh, “Without these highly trained individuals based out of Halifax, there is no doubt that Halifax flights will be more vulnerable to disruption by storms in Central Canada.”
“On behalf of the 187 workers and their families who will have their lives turned upside down by this decision, we anxiously await the premier’s reply,” says Cavanagh.

For information: Danny Cavanagh, CUPE N.S. President -(902) 957-0822 (Cell); Lisa Vivian Anthony, President, CUPE Local 4090 - 873-2307 (o); John McCracken, CUPE Communications Rep.- (902) 455-4180

CANADIAN LABOUR/CANADIAN POLITICS-WINNIPEG:

AIR CANADA ATTENDANTS LEAFLET DURING ELECTION CAMPAIGN:

During this election campaign in Winnipeg flight attendants will be leafleting about the closure of the Winnipeg and Halifax bases for Air Canada attendants and how it should be an issue in the election. Here, from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), is the story.

..........................

Air Canada Flight Attendants Challenge Political Candidates:
Winnipeg – Air Canada Flight Attendants who are campaigning to keep the flight attendant base open in Winnipeg, are taking their message to the election trail.

The flight attendants will be leafleting a couple of key ridings, to impress upon the public and ultimately the elected politicians, how important it is to keep the Air Canada base in Winnipeg.

According to George Bouchard, President of CUPE Local 4093 in Winnipeg, “we know how important it is to keep the flight attendant base in Winnipeg, so we are not giving up. Air Canada can do the right thing for the public, which we believe is also the right thing for the airline.”

Information on the leafleting locations and flight attendants available for interview can be reached through the contacts below.

In June, the airline announced the closure of bases in Winnipeg and Halifax and the layoff of about 600 flight attendants. Since then an Arbitrator has awarded the attendants limited compensation and some support for adjustments they will have to make to accommodate the airline’s closures.

While the airline claims the cuts and closures will save money, they have not revealed any figures to support their plans. The Union has also conducted a study of the base closures that shows how the airline will be paying up to $2 million a year to maintain flight attendant services if the bases are closed after November 1st this year.

For information, contact:

George Bouchard, CUPE Local 4093 President at (204) 999-3541

Dennis Lewycky, CUPE Communications at (204) 333-5065

CANADIAN LABOUR:

PROTESTS AGAINST AIR CANADA CUTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY:

Yesterday about 300 people gathered in downtown Winnipeg to protest the closing of the Winnipeg and Halifax flight attendant bases on the part of Air Canada management. As Molly has reported before the federal government has refused to allow Air Canada an exemption from the law to "consult" ie present a non=negotiable demand with their employees. But, as I have said before this is a setback that hardly affects the timetable of management, let alone their intentions. may it be time for more militant action on the part of Air Canada employees ? The story from the Canadian Press....

...........................

Air Canada attendants rally across the country to fight for jobs:
WINNIPEG

— Air Canada (TSX:AC.A) flight attendants took to the streets in several cities Monday to protest job cuts and warn of more delays in the skies.

"I say to (Air Canada CEO) Robert Milton, how dare you send letters to these employees telling them they're surplus to your requirements?" Paul Moist, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, told more than 300 cheering attendants and supporters outside an Air Canada call centre in downtown Winnipeg.

"There's only one thing that's in surplus at Air Canada and that's the ... arrogance of Air Canada management."

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer lent his support to the attendants, telling them the plan to cut jobs in Winnipeg makes no economic sense.

"We are the only airport in Canada that has a 24-hour capacity, and we're also building and building ... the air cargo capacity which in fact helps the revenue bottom line of Air Canada and other airlines," the NDP premier told the crowd.

There were similar scenes in other cities.

About 100 Air Canada flight attendants and supporters marched at the Calgary International Airport, while 150 people rallied in front of city hall in Halifax and others gathered at Vancouver International Airport.

In Montreal, some 100 flight attendants demonstrated outside the departure lounge of Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport.

"We survived Sept. 11, the integration of Canada's new airlines, the SARS crisis, bankruptcy protection in 2003 and 2004," said Suzanne St-Jean, head of the CUPE branch in Montreal.
"The union is of the opinion that these draconian measures could have been avoided."

The demonstrations are unlikely to change minds at the struggling airline. Faced with rising fuel prices, the air carrier announced plans in June to cut seven per cent of its capacity and lay off up to 2,000 of its 28,000 workers.

As part of the plan, 632 of the airline's 7,000 flight attendants are to be given pink slips.
"Given the pressures we're under from fuel and the economy, it was just a decision that was forced upon us," Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said from Toronto.

"We can understand that it's disappointing and upsetting for our employees. That's why we're keen to sit down with them and look at ways to mitigate this and see what options there are for people."

The two sides were to meet Thursday to look for ways to make the job cuts as painless as possible - measures which could include early retirement incentives. Last week, federal Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn rejected Air Canada's request for a waiver from a requirement to set up a joint union-company committee to examine ways to ease the impact.

The job cuts will hit hardest in Winnipeg and Halifax, where flight attendant bases will be closed. The bases are not physical buildings, but simply the designated starting point for an employee's work day.

The closures mean attendants in Winnipeg and Halifax will have to move to one of the remaining base cities - Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Calgary - or try to commute to their jobs via free standby flights. Flying standby, they run the risk of not being able to get to work on time if flights are full.

Attendants also warned the base closures will result in fewer workers on hand to help out with rescheduled flights or staff shortages.

"We're here to cover the Winnipeg flying and there won't be anyone covering the Winnipeg flying. They'll all be coming in from Toronto," said flight attendant Sandy Menjivar at the Winnipeg protest.

"Any time there's a cancellation - for whatever reason, weather or anything - there won't be anyone here to cover that. It'll just be cancelled, so good luck getting to Toronto; good luck getting to Vancouver."

But Fitzpatrick noted that Air Canada flies to dozen of airports now with only six bases.

Deborah Purvey, president of the CUPE local in Vancouver, said flight attendants have lost wages and benefits since 2004 while Air Canada has become profitable.

"They're using the price of fuel as an excuse to lay off employees," Purvey said.

Heather Tilroe, a flight attendant with 10 years experience, said at the demonstration in Calgary that she believes the cuts are simply the start of an erosion of service.

"We're always going to need flight attendants. Otherwise, we'd have a vending machine at the back of the plane," Tilroe told the Calgary Sun.

CANADIAN LABOUR:

AIR CANADA DENIED EXEMPTION FROM THE LAW OVER LAYOFFS:

Yesterday the federal government declared that Air Canada would not be exempted from the federal labour law in regards to their planned layoffs of not just flight attendants but also up to 2,000 other employees. Not that this is a "great victory" for, as the following article makes plain, this merely means that the company will have to create "layoff committees" with the union where they will- ahem- say they are laying off so and so. No doubt there were a certain number of "consultations", also known as back room talks, between Air Canada and the government before this announcement, and it was determined, as the company states, that it wouldn't even slow them down, let alone stop them.

Molly also wants to draw the readers' attention to the whole matter of anybody, being so confident as to ask for an "exemption from the law". Wow !!!! This says volumes. Hi...I want to speed and run red lights for the next few months. Can I please have an "exemption" from the law ? Pretty please. Can we say...."the purpose of the law" ? Anyways, here's the announcement from the CBC. No doubt the CUPE plans to oppose the closures and layoffs will continue apace, as if this meaningless announcement never happened.

................................

Feds deny Air Canada exemption from labour rules
Ottawa has denied Air Canada's request for an exemption from federal labour law, a move which could make the implementation of planned 2,000 job cuts more difficult.

Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said no Friday to Air Canada's application to obtain a holiday from some labour rules concerning the creation of layoff committees.

"After carefully examining the application, I have decided that there are insufficient grounds to grant a waiver to Air Canada," Blackburn said in a statement.

That means the Montreal-based air carrier will be forced to set up a committee with its employees to discuss severance and other aspects of the coming job cuts.

Air Canada noted that its existing contracts already contain provisions to establish such groups.(So why didn't AC do this in the first place????-Molly)

Even with the ruling, the carrier said it can still meet its Nov. 1 target for eliminating positions, more than eight per cent of its employee base.

"This decision will not delay(let alone stop-Molly) the plans to reduce our workforce," said Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick.

"It just adds an additional layer [of complexity].

In June, Air Canada announced plans to chop the jobs, which included more than 600 flight attendants. The carrier is seeking to reduce its flights and workforce in order to deal with sharply higher fuel costs.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, however, has been fighting the cuts by measures such as holding rallies in Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal, Halifax, Calgary and Vancouver.

"These drastic measures don't make sense," said Lesley Swann, president of CUPE's Air Canada bargaining unit, which represents 7,200 flight attendants.

"There's no justification for the closures, and cutting attendants is only going to reduce the company's capacity to provide passengers with quality services."

CANADIAN LABOUR:

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST AIR CANADA CUTS:

As promised here is more on the continuing campaign against the recently announced illegal cuts on the part of Air Canada management. From the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)...

..............................

Flight attendants fight Air Canada layoffs:

CUPE members are rallying, leafleting, advertising and emailing against Air Canada’s plan to eliminate hundreds of jobs and close bases in Halifax and Winnipeg.

***Support the flight attendants: Send email to your MP
***Times and locations for July 28 rallies

This action will have a devastating impact on passengers, employees, their families and ultimately on everyone in the community.

On July 10th, Air Canada management notified flight attendants in Manitoba and Halifax, that they would be laid off in November.

The layoffs would affect 144 CUPE flight attendants in Winnipeg and 187 in Halifax.

Since then the union has launched a campaign to fight the cuts and the closures.

Flight attendants are contacting politicians to get their support to have the airline withdraw its planned cuts and closures.

Meetings have been held with local MPs to get their support. A number of MPs have already intervened to help resolve this situation. Send email to your MP.

CUPE will distribute postcards this week at the Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg to raise awareness about how the cuts and closures will affect passengers.

Newspaper ads will run this week in Winnipeg’s two major newspapers.

CUPE is planning rallies for Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver on Monday, July 28th at noon.

The company plans to cut attendant bases in Winnipeg and Halifax, leaving bases in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Montreal.

Air Canada asked the Minister of Labour to exempt the company from requirements of the Canada Labour Code - sections 214 to 226, Division IX, Part III.

These provisions allow for a reasonable way to address worker concerns when there are major layoffs proposed by an employer.

Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said he will investigate the request and report by July 30th. The union has argued that there is no justification for the exemption.

Politicians have been asked to write to Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Lawrence Cannon to intervene on behalf of the Air Canada employees. Already letters have gone from a number of MPs and hundreds of e-mails have been sent from the public.

The union has asked to see a ‘base viability study’ Air Canada conducted after they decided to close the two bases. The airline has refused to release the study results.

The Winnipeg flight attendant base is the airline's oldest. Trans-Canada Air Line was started in 1937 and the Winnipeg base was the first established for flight attendants.

After Air Canada acquired Canadian Airlines in 2000, the company reduced the number of flight attendants to 7,200 from 8,500.

Flight attendants agreed to a 13.5 per cent wage rate cut, among other concessions, to deal with the airline's financial crisis in 2003 and 2004.

The airline was privatized in 1989. In 2000, Air Canada acquired Canadian Airlines International. The largest private sector owner of the airline is ACE Aerospace Holdings, of Toronto.

Robert Milton, Chairman of Air Canada earned a $1.2 million salary, a $3.9 million bonus and $11.2 million in stock option gains from Air Canada in 2007. He posted $23.1 million in option gains since ACE was created in October of 2004.

..............................

Here's the list of rallies planned for next Monday.........

Rallies to protest Air Canada layoffs
Calgary
Calgary Airport
Delta hotel , Marie Wright Room on the Mezzanine Level
10:00 am
Claire Renaud
President
403-870-1779
403-221-2625
CUPE 4095

Halifax
Grand Parade Square
at George and Barrington Centre
2:00 pm
Lisa Vivian Anthony
President
902-873-2307
902-430-6548
CUPE 4090

Montreal
Aéroport de Montréal
Departure Level – Door One
1:00 pm
Suzanne St-Jean
President
514-347-4658
514-422-2235
CUPE 4091

Toronto
Pearson International Airport
Arrivals Area F
(Details to be confirmed)
1:00 pm
Cidalia Ribeiro
President
416-795-4293
905-676-4293
CUPE 4092

Vancouver
International Airport
March from Sea Island Elementary School on Miller Road, up Grant McConachie Way to airport.
March begins at 10:00 am
Deborah Purvey
President
604-551-5737
604-279-9905/106
604-295-4259
CUPE 4094

Winnipeg
Air Canada Centre
355 Portage Avenue
assemble at Radisson Hotel and walk at 11:45
12 Noon
George Bouchard
President
204-999-3541
204-788-6958
CUPE 4093

When: July 28, 2008 (All Day)
Location: Across Canada
Contact: Daniela Scarpelli
Related Link: http://cupe.ca/airlines/Flight-attendants-fi

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-JAPAN:

EYEWITNESS REPORT ON ANTI-G8 PROTESTS IN JAPAN:

The following, copied from the A-Infos website is apparently by a Canadian who was visiting Japan at the time of the recent anti-G8 protests in Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido in Japan. See Molly's comments at the end.

............................

Japan, Eyewitness to the G8 protests

Japan was forcefully intolerant of dissent, and seemed bent on not allowing any embarrassments. --- Police violently attempt to arrest the music truck driver at the G8 protest in Sapporo, Japan. ---- The Group of Eight Summit was held July 7-9 on the island of Hokkaido in Japan. I have had some time to reflect on the protest that took place July 5, organized by Japanese NGOs, and how it reflects the wider context of the meetings. Last week, having traveled to Thailand, I sat in front of one of the world's biggest malls, in downtown Bangkok, in an eerily representative space of the struggle we are all confronting.

There, a photographic essay of the state of the world from above (all aerial photographs), documenting different human and natural ecosystems and their general state of decline, stood in sharp contrast to this megalithic shopping centre, where young Thais now flock to be seen and to see what the world has to offer them.

Of course, in a ritualistic greenwashing campaign, the mall had draped itself in the new green theme, urging passers-by to save the planet, to recycle, to reduce energy, everything they could, except, of course, examining and changing their consumption pattern. Is this the legacy of free-market democracy trumpeted by the G8 leaders we should be so proud of?

Getting back to the day of protest. The protest, actually termed the "G8 March for Peace," started of pacifically enough. Marchers gathered early in the afternoon to listen to speeches from the likes of Indigenous representatives from the Philippines, farm movement leaders from small-scale Japanese farms and Via Campesina, and Walden Bello, author and director of Focus on the Global South.

Speeches and translations exhausted, marchers gathered in a very organized Japanese manner, all protest groups separated by flags, colours, and often by nationality(one hardly thinks that this is unique to Japan-Molly). The usual suspects were there, from Oxfam to Jubilee South, masked as the G8 leaders, as well as some anarchists who seemed to emerge from nowhere.

Right away, the march through downtown Sapporo was a bit of a parody, only enhanced by a group of protesters dressed as clowns and faeries. The Japanese police only wanted marchers to take up one lane of traffic, and they became exasperated when nobody seemed to want to follow this demeaning law. It seemed that police outnumbered protesters all throughout the day as well, encircling us on all sides, and sticking cameras in our faces. A few scuffles emerged, but the protest carried along generally peacefully.

That is, until the police decided to arrest the DJ.

As the marchers had become generally separated by affiliation, most of the peaceful demonstrators kept to the front, and were left alone by the police. But towards the back, many of the more confrontational protesters, some dressed in black, converged around a truck completely outfitted with speakers and a DJ system.

For want of a real reason for arrest, we can only surmise the police had a particular distaste for the lively rock music blaring through the speakers, and rushed to arrest the DJ. This was not received well by the masses.

Immediately, marchers gathered to try and free their comrade, to little avail. Police in full riot gear surrounded the truck from behind, where the majority of demonstrators were gathered. After minutes of back and forth between the police and demonstrators, it seems the driver started to move the truck.

This was the final straw for police. They rushed to the driver's window, and proceeded to smash it with their clubs. Opening the door, they struggled to first disconnect the driver's seatbelt and tried to remove him forcefully, one officer's elbow around the man's neck. This neglected that his foot was now lodged in the steering wheel, and he wasn't going anywhere.

By now, the crowd was in full fury, as extra riot police were called in to keep demonstrators away. At this point I had managed to find a prime location to document everything from the passenger's window. Quickly though, a policeman came at me from the crowd, and forced me from the door, knocking me into the rearview mirror, and smashing it. I was rescued from his grip by other protesters, who were unable to keep him from later stationing himself in front of the door, stopping myself and another photojournalist from Spain from getting any more good shots, though we could see at this point about a dozen police pulling him by his neck and cheeks, an extreme display of force. Eventually they wrested him from the steering wheel and pulled him away from the crowd.

At this point, the protest was effectively over. Police cordoned off the truck completely with more riot troops, and started cordoning off the march from behind, forcing all marchers to move forward. This led to a few more scuffles, but it was nearly the end of the route anyway.

At this point, many of the anarchists headed to the police station to learn the fate of those arrested.

After being threatened with arrest for convening in front of the police station, protesters moved across the road, where again they were threatened with arrest for blocking civilian traffic. It was getting pretty ridiculous at this point, but protesters moved again to a park down the road.

There, they were confronted by a fascist Japanese political group who arrived in a van shouting at protesters, who reacted by pulling down one of the banners on the van, at which point those inside got violent. They hit a few protesters before being restrained, and the police arrived – to keep protesters away, even though it was these older gentlemen who were violent. Eventually police calmed down these men, and they drove away, screaming slogans as they left. The following day they would hold their own counter-rally.

So in the end, the whole show was a bit of a farce. It was nothing like G8 protests of the past, with only perhaps a thousand showing up, partly because of the remoteness, partly because of strict immigration controls, partly because of disinterest.The G8 protest resembled the results of the G8 Summit itself, not producing many significant results, besides letting the leaders know they were still not out of public eyes a few hours away in their private resort.

It also highlighted the direction being pursued by G8 leaders, as extreme security measures were introduced – Japan spent almost $100 million more than Germany on summit security, despite a dearth of protesters. Japan was forcefully intolerant of dissent, and seemed bent on not allowing any embarrassments.

Although small, the protest did highlight the necessary role of civil society to continue to challenge the authority and control of the G8.

I hope this experience help spur us in Canada to consider how we will react and organize when the G8 comes to Hunstville, Ontario in 2010.

Molly Notes:

1)It's hard for me to get a grasp of the "remoteness" of the meeting along with the idea of its "isolation". Here in Canada my idea of "remote" is conditioned by such places as Prince George, BC, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Thompson, Manitoba,Sudbury, Ontario, Hay River NWT,Come By Chance NFLD, etc., places that would hardly be associated with the term "resort". Still, in a smaller country, made up of islands.....

2)The declining attendance at "mega-protests" is hardly a new thing. Could I perhaps suggest that this sort of thing represents a tactic whose time has passed, and that its best before date is years in the past. This is especially true of the growing anarchist movement because....

3)Anarchism has now reached a level in many countries where it is large enough to maintain an "on the ground" presence in the day to day life of many communities. The slow and patient organizing of anarchists, whether it be flashy "Food Not Bombs" groups or the more patient and less headline producing organizing that is going on within unions-syndicalist and otherwise and within community groups, is actually what anarchism is in a large part of the world today. As anarchist movements develop they devote an increasing amount of time to such low key but ultimately more productive ways of organizing than they do to making futile shows at government events. This connects with the idea of purpose....

4)If "anarchism" means nothing but an excess of militance in promoting the idea of fighting the police and always losing then it means nothing. If we have no more productive alternatives than tempting the police to beat us up then we are ultimately futile. These productive alternatives are actually being built day by day, but they are not the picture that either the forces of authority nor those anarchist ideologues whose self interest drives them to maintain the movement in a state of childishness want to present. I am reminded of the goofy statement of one prominent American anarchist who cheerleads the continuation of such tactics by saying that "we should build a movement so large that the pigs run away in fear when they see us coming". I am thereby reminded of a barn that I once help shovel out that had a layer of shit 3 feet deep across its entire surface. The "pigs" (police) will never have to run, just as they have always !!!!!!!!!!! won in the end at all such protests. I won't go any further on the childish language used to describe the opponents except to say that its use prevents thought rather than encourages it, and in the end serves the interests of the opponents. Try and get larger and nastier- they'll get larger and nastier faster. This is a great example of confusing "politics" with "showing off". Hopefully we can outgrow this as rapidly as possible. This means that....

5)Perhaps the best response to another G8 meeting in Canada is no response. Perhaps we are just large enough in this country to abandon the attempt to grab headlines, with increasingly diminishing attendance, and concentrate on more productive ways of putting anarchism into practice.

CANADIAN LABOUR-WINNIPEG/HALIFAX:

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS PROTEST AIR CANADA CUTS:

As reported earlier here at Molly's Blog flight attendants don't intend to take the proposed illegal cuts on the part of Air Canada laying down. In addition to the online campaign (see earlier on this blog) to pressure the federal government to obey the law in this case there will be physical protests across Canada next Monday, especially here in Winnipeg and in Halifax, the centres most affected by the dismissals. Here in Winnipeg the protest will begin at noon hour at the Radisson Hotel, and people will march from there to the downtown Air Canada building. Organizers from local 4093 of CUPE are hoping for a turnout of hundreds of CUPE members, other union members and supporters. For further updates check out the national CUPE website , the website of the Air Canada Component of CUPE or stay tuned to here at Molly's Blog.

The planned closures will eliminate 143 flight attendant jobs(out of 500 attendant jobs the company plans to cut) here in Winnipeg, out of possibly 2,000 total jobs that management intends to eliminate nationwide. What this means to the consumer is higher fees, longer line-ups and less service (from an airline already famed for having the level of "service" one would expect from 'Albania Air'). Meanwhile on the other end of the country about 200 jobs are due to be eliminated from the Halifax area. This contrasts with the salary of Robert Milton, President and CEO of Air Canada's parent corporation who was paid $43 million in 2007 to mismanage the company further into debt. Does the word "incompetence" mean nothing ?

Here's an item from the CUPE website about the effect the cuts will have on the Halifax area.

.............................

Air Canada job cuts in Halifax will have devastating impact:
(Halifax) – The president of the CUPE local representing Air Canada employees in Halifax says the announced job cuts are going to have a devastating impact, both on employees but also on the local economy.

Lisa Vivian Anthony of CUPE Local 4090 says, “Air Canada brought the union executive representing 8,000 flight attendants from six CUPE Locals from across the country to Toronto yesterday, to talk about mitigation options for the 500 layoffs they announced two weeks ago.

“The company informed us that they had conducted ‘Base Viability Studies’ but did not provide us with any details or results of the studies which were necessitating the closure of the Halifax and Winnipeg bases. CUPE anticipates reviewing these details with a financial analyst when the information is provided to us,” she says.

CUPE National Representative, Peter Baxter says, “Obviously, this bad news was brewing for days and possibly weeks as they had eight-page Fedex packages ready to be delivered to affected members, as well as managers in place at the affected bases to deal with shocked and grieving flight attendants.

“The public needs to understand that the economic hit is staggering for the local economy in Halifax. The average income of flight attendants is approximately $40,000 per year multiplied by 200 crew members, which amounts to $8,000,000 annually that will be forever lost,” says Baxter.

Baxter explains, “In previous rounds of concessionary bargaining during bankruptcy protection (CCAA) there was a wholesale gutting of our collective agreement to help the company recover from financial instability. We tightened our belts to assist Air Canada, our members took a 13.5% wage cut to help keep the company afloat and now they are paying us back by throwing us an anvil and closing our base.”

Anthony says, “We negotiated packages for our senior members to exit with dignity and a voluntary separation package to help smooth the transition. This was agreed upon by the company during bankruptcy protection and now they are denying our senior members the packages. We are currently in arbitration over this issue. The union is perplexed as to why the company would not want to replace the senior members with new hires making half the money. They agreed to this and now they are fighting us every step of the way.”

Says Baxter, “They paid Robert Milton, President and CEO of Air Canada’s parent company, $43 million dollars in 2007, and Air Canada President and CEO, Montie Brewer $8 million dollars. Obviously, they need to get the money from somewhere and the pound of flesh is coming off the backs of the flight attendants based in Halifax and Winnipeg.”

Says Anthony, “It is the end of an era for us. We have been serving the travelling public for 32 years. We have some members who have been working here for over 30 years.”