Union not obligated to grieve Air Canada's decision to enforce federal vaccine mandate, labour board rules

Air Canada’s largest flight attendant union was not obligated to file a grievance on behalf of some members who opposed the airline’s enforcement of the Trudeau government’s vaccine mandate, the federal labour board has ruled. Last August, the Liberal government announced that it would require all employees of both the federal government and federally regulated industries — such as air, rail and marine transportation — to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of October in order to keep working. Air Canada quickly followed suit and announced that it would implement a mandatory vaccination policy for all its employees that required they receive at least two COVID-19 shots by Oct. 31, 2021. In the following weeks, and faced with concerns from some Air Canada employees, Canadian Union of Public Employees – Air Canada Component leadership obtained two separate legal opinions on the matter, according to a Canada Industrial Relations Board ruling published earlier this year. The ruling says both opinions confirmed that the airline’s new policy “would likely withstand a challenge through grievance arbitration.” So, union leadership said it would instead focus on supporting members through individual grievances should they face discipline as a result of their vaccine status. But a group of union members, including flight attendant Ingrid Watson who was unvaccinated at the time of the hearings, wanted CUPE to grieve the employer’s entire vaccination policy, the ruling explained. Story has more details.<br/>