By Oliver Johnson | May 3, 2012 Estimated reading time 1 minute, 41 seconds.
An international workers’ union has waded into the ongoing debate surrounding the Aveos closure, calling on the federal government to step up on the issue following Air Canada move to cancel all of its contracts with Aveos in court.
These court actions contradict the commitment [Air Canada CEO Calin] Rovinescu gave to the parliamentary Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities in early April of this year, said Dave Ritchie, Canadian general vice president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). He said Air Canada would participate in any effort to find new investors to create a new MRO that would provide jobs to Aveos workers. This is not the way to go about it.
Until its operations ceased on March 19, 2012, Aveos was the largest commercial aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operator in Canada with facilities in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Mississauga and Montreal.
Unless the federal government and Air Canada become part of the solution, Canada will lose a strategic industry, said Ritchie.
The IAM claim that it not just the 2,600 jobs at Aveos that are at risk, with more than ten thousand jobs associated with Aveos suppliers on both sides of the border.
We need all parties at the table to facilitate an atmosphere conducive to continuing operations at a successor to Aveos, said Ritchie.
