Sawt Falasteen - Business groups ask Ottawa to prevent Air Canada strike

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of Canada and nearly 100 other associations in a letter to the federal labor minister asked him to order arbitration to settle the labor dispute.

This comes after Air Canada said it was preparing to suspend most of its flights starting next Sunday, as it faces an impasse in talks with its pilots over wage demands.

A total shutdown of its operations has been scheduled for September 18 if talks break down.

"No one wins in a strike, but a labor disruption would cause a lot of harm to a lot of people," Goldy Hyder of the Business Council of Canada told a news conference in Ottawa.

"Canadians cannot afford another disruption to our economy," he said.

The nation's biggest carrier said it has reached a tentative agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union, representing more than 5,200 pilots, on most issues after 15 months of ongoing negotiations.

The union's demand for a 30-percent wage increase, however, remains a sticking point, it said Thursday.

"While we remain committed to reaching a negotiated settlement with ALPA, the federal government should be prepared to intervene if talks fail before any travel disruption starts," added Air Canada chief executive Michael Rousseau in a statement.

Labor Minister Steve MacKinnon has said he was optimistic a strike could be averted, while urging both sides to "knuckle down and get a deal."

MacKinnon was to meet with the union and Air Canada on Thursday.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said MacKinnon "would impress on them the fact that millions of Canadians are counting on everyone to get this resolved."

"We remain firm that the best deals happen at the bargaining table, and that's where parties need to keep working," Trudeau added.

The airline's pilots are pushing to close a pay gap with their American counterparts, but Air Canada says their demands "far exceed average Canadian wage increases."

Candice Laing, of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said a disruption at Air Canada would not only disrupt passenger travel, but also air transport of food, manufactured goods and other materials.

"It's about businesses of all sectors of the economy and communities of all sizes... trying to stay connected across our incredible land mass and geography," she said. "This is a national issue."

Air Canada flies to 47 countries and carries an average of 110,000 passengers a day on its 670 flights.

N.AbuHussein--SF-PST