Mr. Speaker, we are offended by yesterday's decision by the Minister of Labour to force a vote of CAW members at Canadian Airlines. This is an unprecedented and shocking attack on workers' rights.
At the same time we recognize the minister's attempts to use the Canada Labour Code to protect the bungling of the Minister of Transport, who seems not to understand the real crisis facing Canadian Airlines or has chosen to ignore it.
New Democrats recognize that the real issue is the stability of the industry which it has demonstrated cannot regulate itself.
We care about the jobs of Canadian Airlines. We care about the future of the industry. However, we are concerned that by focusing only on the concessions being demanded of working people that the job and industrial security we all desire will be lost in the long term.
If the federal government wants to be involved in Canadian Airlines restructuring, it should leave collective bargaining to the affected parties and go to the table with a real package that addresses the real problems of the industry.
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