Protecting Air Service Act (S.C. 2012, c. 2)

Marginal note:Appointment of arbitrator

11. The Minister must appoint as arbitrator for final offer selection a person that the Minister considers appropriate.

Marginal note:Powers and duties

12. The arbitrator has, with any modifications that the circumstances require, all the powers and duties of an arbitrator under paragraphs 60(1)(a) and (a.2) to (a.4) and section 61 of the Canada Labour Code.

Marginal note:Obligation to provide final offer

• 13. (1) Within the time and in the manner that the arbitrator may specify, the employer and the union must each submit to the arbitrator

  • (a) a list of the matters on which the employer and the union were in agreement as of a date specified by the arbitrator and proposed contractual language that would give effect to those matters;

  • (b) a list of the matters remaining in dispute on that date; and

  • (c) a final offer in respect of the matters referred to in paragraph (b).

• Marginal note:Contractual language

  (2) The final offer must be submitted with proposed contractual language that can be incorporated into the new collective agreement.

Marginal note:Arbitrator’s duties

• 14. (1) Subject to section 16, within 90 days after being appointed, or within any longer period that may be specified by the Minister, the arbitrator must

  • (a) determine the matters on which the employer and the union were in agreement as of the date specified for the purposes of paragraph 13(1)(a);

  • (b) determine the matters remaining in dispute on that date;

  • (c) select, in order to resolve the matters remaining in dispute, either the final offer submitted by the employer or the final offer submitted by the union; and

  • (d) make a decision in respect of the resolution of the matters referred to in this subsection and forward a copy of the decision to the Minister, the employer and the union.

• Marginal note:Guiding principle

  (2) In making the selection of a final offer, the arbitrator is to take into account the tentative agreement reached by the employer and the union on February 10, 2012 and the report of the conciliation commissioner dated February 22, 2012 that was released to the parties, and is to be guided by the need for terms and conditions of employment that are consistent with those in other airlines and that will provide the necessary degree of flexibility to ensure

  • (a) the short-and long-term economic viability and competitiveness of the employer; and

  • (b) the sustainability of the employer’s pension plan, taking into account any short-term funding pressures on the employer.

• Marginal note:If no final offer submitted

  (3) If either the employer or the union fails to provide the arbitrator with a final offer in accordance with paragraph 13(1)(c), the arbitrator must select the final offer provided by the other party.

• Marginal note:Contractual language

  (4) The arbitrator’s decision must be drafted in a manner that constitutes a new collective agreement between the employer and the union and, to the extent that it is possible, incorporate the contractual language that is referred to in paragraph 13(1)(a) and that is in the final offer selected by the arbitrator.