MONTREAL - As hundreds of former Aveos workers marched through downtown Montreal on Tuesday, the Quebec government said it is asking for a court ruling on Air Canada's legal obligations to maintain heavy maintenance of its aircrafts.
The province is trying to save 1,800 aircraft maintenance jobs after Aveos shut down abruptly in March after the firm spun off from Air Canada's maintenance division in 2007, found a falling number of orders from the airline.
After warning Air Canada on April 3 that it had a legal obligation to maintain maintenance in Montreal, Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier announced on Tuesday that the province will ask the Quebec Superior Court for a declaratory judgment following an unsatisfactory response from the Montreal-based airline.
The minister says the federal law that allowed Air Canada to be privatized required that no aircraft maintenance facility would be dismantled.
"We can ask the Superior Court to make it clear to Air Canada that they have legal obligations and they must respect them," said Fournier.
After the March 19 closing of Aveos, the firm moved quickly to liquidate its assets and terminate all 2,600 of its employees across Canada. Facilities in Montreal, Mississauga and Winnipeg were part of the closures.
Under the 1988 Air Canada Act, the airline was directed to maintain facilities in the three cities.
Having yet to receive any of the back pay owed to them—a Quebec judge ordered Aveos on April 10 to pay each of its employees up to $2,000—the former workers picketed on Sherbrooke St. in front of the home of Pierre Marc Johnson, a former premier who now sits on Air Canada's board of directors.
The insolvent company is expected to send out its last pay cheques early next week.
With a file from The Canadian Press
