MONTREAL -- Airbus Canada has chosen to turn to the Ottawa emergency wage subsidy so that union members who assemble the A220 in Mirabel can continue to receive their wages even if they have been on forced leave since March 24 due of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An agreement valid at least until May 4 was announced Thursday between the employer and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), which represents some 1,000 of the site's approximately 2,800 workers.
Under the program proposed by the Trudeau government, workers receive 75 per cent of their normal hourly wages, or a maximum of $847 per week.
According to the union, Airbus “will pay 100 per cent of the salaries of its Mirabel employees.”
The agreement also provides for amendments to the provisions surrounding the “negative” hours banked by certain unionized employees since the production stoppage in order to maintain their wages.
While the wage subsidy, retroactive to the start of the pandemic, offers up to $847 per week, the Canadian emergency benefit offers $500 per week to unemployed Canadians.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020.
