Airline suspensions highlight flaws in new whistleblowing law

Four Air Canada Jazz employees suspended for speaking out about airline safety issues

Toronto (15 June 2006) - The suspension of four Air Canada Jazz mechanics for publicly raising safety concerns about the airline illustrates one of the most glaring weaknesses in the whistleblowing provisions of the Harper government's new accountability act.

As drafted, the legislation provides no protection to such employees because it applies only to government departments and agencies. Air Canada Jazz is exactly the kind of employer that Bill C-2 will not touch because private employers are exempt.

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) made this point clearly and forcefully in a brief this month to MPs on Parliament Hill.

Air Canada Jazz suspended the four workers after they told the Toronto Star they have been pressured to release planes to fly despite mechanical defects that might compromise the safety of passengers and crew members.

Larry Brown's warning

Larry Brown, NUPGE's national secretary-treasurer, emphasized in NUPGE's brief on Bill C-2 that the failure to cover private employees is one of the most glaring shortcomings in the proposed law.

"For example," he asked, "are passengers of a commercial airline, and the general public, less deserving of information disclosing wrongdoing in the maintenance and operation of an aircraft?

"Moreover, it would be rare to find a private company where the public had no interest in the environmental practices of the organization, or where the public had no legitimate interest in whether the company practiced or encouraged corruption," he added.

"There are hundreds of examples of public safety issues arising from private corporations. Think of the oil rigs, tankers, transport trucks, and the manufacturing processes that the public has every right to be concerned about.

"The public and employees of private corporations have vital interests in the operations of private sector corporations – including economic interests, health and safety interests like in the Westray Mine disaster, safe product issues for consumers, and on and on."

In handing down its suspensions, Air Canada Jazz criticized its employees for airing their complaints through the media rather than internal avenues.

The employees, and several others who spoke anonymously, said they went to the media only after they had complained repeatedly to Transport Canada and been ignored. On average, they said a Jazz flight with mechanical defects flies about once a week. NUPGE