The Federal Court of Canada will conduct a judicial review in November of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision challenging the ability of unions and employers to negotiate mandatory retirement ages for all Air Canada pilots.
According to The Canadian Press, the challenge to the tribunal decision was brought by the Air Canada Pilots Association. The association wants to continue to negotiate a standard retirement age for pilots, currently set at age 60.
The pilots association asked the federal court for a review a 2009 decision they believe “erred at law by ignoring Supreme Court of Canada decisions which found it acceptable for employers and employees to determine a retirement age through the collective bargaining process.” (WCxKit)
The tribunal ruled Air Canada's contract with the pilots was discriminatory under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It found the provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act allowing employers to impose mandatory retirement policies as “bona fide occupational requirements'' violated the Charter.
If left unchallenged, the tribunal's decision would potentially affect the wages and benefits of the Air Canada pilots and thousands of other federally regulated employees working under collective agreements containing a fixed age of retirement, the union said.
The human rights tribunal was responding to a complaint, filed in 2005 by a pilot, who was required to retire from his position as an Air Canada Airbus 340 pilot when he turned 60 years of age in 2003. (WCxKit)
This man and another pilot, who filed a subsequent complaint, requested reinstatement to their positions, with full seniority, along with damages for lost income, pension and other benefits.
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