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MONTREAL – The head of the Air Canada pilots union says she’ll step down if members opt not to approve a tentative deal with the airline, raising the stakes as aviators mull whether to accept hefty salary gains or drive an even harder bargain.

Charlene Hudy, who chairs the Air Canada contingent of the Air Line Pilots Association, told her fellow employees in a virtual townhall Friday that she “will have no choice but to resign” if they vote down the would-be contract.

“If the membership votes no to this (tentative agreement), it would clearly indicate to the public, media, government and company that I no longer speak on your behalf,” she said in a question-and-answer session that followed the online gathering. The Canadian Press has obtained a copy of her statement and confirmed it with two pilots.

“If I stayed, it would be to your detriment,” Hudy said.

The contract, reached last weekend after more than a year of negotiations, averted a strike that would have seen some 670 flight cancellations and 110,000 passengers affected daily.

The deal would grant the carrier’s 5,400 pilots a cumulative wage hike of nearly 42 per cent over four years. The increase outstrips major gains won last year by pilots at the three biggest U.S. airlines, where pay bumps ranged between 34 and 40 per cent — albeit starting from a higher baseline.

Despite the big top-line figure, the agreement has faced scrutiny from some pilots, particularly more recent recruits who are unimpressed with the ongoing pay gap between newer employees and their more experienced colleagues.

Warnings about resignation by union officials are not unheard of and aim to drive home the merits of a tentative deal, says Michael Bjorge, who teaches history at Dalhousie University with a specialization industrial relations.

“Oftentimes in bargaining, especially when people have been at the table for a significant period of time, they just say, ‘this is the best we can get’ and they often honestly believe that,” Bjorge said.

“In reality, of course, you never really know what you can get until you push to the maximum.”

Under their current contract, pilots earn far less in their first four years at the company before enjoying a big wage hike starting in year five.

Some employees had been pushing to fully scrap the so-called “fixed rate” provision, where earnings stay flat regardless of the type of aircraft flown. (Typically, wages increase with the size of the plane.) But the proposed deal announced on Sept. 15 would merely cut the four-year period of lower pay to two years, according to a copy of the contract obtained by The Canadian Press.

Even in years three and four, wages would be substantially lower than in year five. The hourly rate jumps by nearly 40 per cent in the fifth year, a far greater leap than in any other period, the agreement shows.

On the assumption that pilots work roughly 75 hours per month — a common baseline in the industry — newer recruits would earn between $75,700 and $134,000 versus almost $187,000 in year five, and more than $367,000 for an experienced captain flying a Boeing 777.

Experts say well over a third of the carrier’s roughly 5,200 active pilots may earn entry-level wages following a recent hiring surge. Many come on board after lengthy careers at other airlines, rather than straight out of flight school.

Provisions around scheduling and quality of life will also factor into pilots’ considerations ahead of a ratification vote, poised to take place in the coming weeks.

“By the time they first start working, it’s often the time they’re having children. So if mom or dad’s going to be gone for significant periods of time, that’s really hard on families,” Bjorge said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2024.

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Unifor says workers at General Motors’ CAMI assembly plant and battery facility in southwestern Ontario have ratified a new collective agreement.

Unifor president Lana Payne says the new contract squeezes three years of wage gains into the two-year life of the deal, providing a 15 per cent wage hike for production workers and just over 20 per cent for skilled trades.

The union says the plant’s 5,600 autoworkers will receive an immediate 10 per cent pay bump followed by an increase of two per cent next September and three per cent in July 2026.

Payne says the agreement aligns employees at CAMI with the union’s negotiating timeline for the rest of the Detroit Three automakers, lending it more bargaining power in future talks that will take place simultaneously.

Workers at CAMI had delivered an overwhelming strike mandate, with 97 per cent in support of job action if an agreement was not reached.

Based in Ingersoll, Ont., the plant is the only large-scale electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Canada, building the Chevrolet BrightDrop EV 600 and EV 400.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2024.

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Calgary is lifting water restrictions that lasted much of the summer following successful repairs to a major feeder main.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek told a news conference Sunday morning that the Bearspaw South feeder main is now open and back in service for the Calgary region.

Since late August, there has been a ban on any outdoor water use with potable supplies, and Calgarians have been urged to take shorter showers, skip toilet flushes and hold off on laundry and dishes.

It was the second round of water rationing since the feeder main in northwest Calgary burst in early June.

“Whether you turned off the shower while you were soaping up or only did full loads of laundry, every litre saved reduced pressure on our water system, making sure that we all had safe, treated drinking water reaching our homes and our businesses while our crews worked tirelessly to repair the feeder main,” Gondek said Sunday.

There are still two smaller sections of pipe to repair in October and November, but the city said they won’t require city-wide water restrictions because the sections can be isolated while keeping the feeder main running.

The city is asking residents to ease into normal water use over the next few days to help even out any spikes in demand, which it said will be easier on the system.

“You may have a mountain of laundry you’ve been waiting to tackle, a pressure-wash job that you’ve been holding off, or you may just want to take that extra-long, guilt-free shower,” Francois Bouchart, the city’s director of capital priorities and investment, said Sunday.

“Where possible, we would just ask you to please space these things out over the next few days.”

Bouchart cautioned that the water flowing from taps may appear cloudy and smell of chlorine, but assured that the conditions are temporary and the water is safe to drink.

It all began June 5, after the massive water main supplying 60 per cent of the drinking water for the city ruptured and flooded streets. A directive was issued to have Calgarians cut their indoor water use by 25 per cent. Car washes and indoor pools were also closed.

Crews scrambled to repair the line and, in the process, found five more weak spots to fix. The city declared a state of local emergency which remained in place until just before July’s Calgary Stampede, and most restrictions were lifted and public outdoor pools reopened.

Then, in early August, Gondek announced that extended tests on more than 10 kilometres of pipe revealed over a dozen more problem spots that needed to be fixed. The city’s 1.6 million residents and those in surrounding communities were once again urged to conserve water indoors while a sweeping ban on outdoor watering resumed.

Daily updates were issued on the progress of repairs, as well as how much water the city was using. Non-potable water filling stations for gardens were also set up.

On some days, water use was higher than what officials said was the limit for keeping the system safely running, prompting pleas for conservation from Gondek and city officials.

Many residents, commuters and businesses also faced street closures while repair work was done.

“We know this has not been easy. We have asked you to make some changes to your most basic routines and make sacrifices personally so that we had enough water for the most essential uses,” Bouchart said.

The city said it expects to receive a forensic report from consultants on what caused the problems with the feeder main by the end of October, and details on its findings will be shared when they are available.

The cost of June’s emergency repair, which included the five hot spots, has been estimated to be between $20 and $25 million, according to the city. It said initial estimates of the latest repairs is somewhere between $15 and $20 million.

Gondek said Sunday that she will work with fellow mayors across Canada to make sure funding sources are established to address the safety and security of infrastructure like water networks.

When asked by reporters about compensation for residents or businesses affected by the disruptions, Bouchart responded that the city has been in contact with affected parties and that recommendations will come forward at a later date.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2024.