Union Flags Safety Concerns After Sunwing’s Intention to Hire Temporary Foreign Pilots

Sunwing plans to hire 65 European pilots this winter to temporarily operate from Canadian gateways to alleviate worker shortage, according to CanadianAviationNews.

That has Unifor expressing concerns. Not only are European pilots who require less flying experience getting a higher rate of pay than full-time Canadian Unifor pilots, the union has also raised safety and labour relations concerns.

“As a union we expect rigorous analysis before an employer is allowed to use the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) especially when workers are covered by a collective agreement. In this case, the issue is complex and the TFWP should never be used to circumvent typical labour relations discussions and resolutions to workplace problems,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President.