FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MISSISSAUGA, ON – May 20, 2026 – On Monday, May 18, 2026, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) filed an action in the Federal Court of Appeal to prevent the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB or “Board”) from destroying the ballots of Air Canada employees from an election that the Board itself had previously authorized.

On May 7, 2025, the Board issued a decision recognizing that the collective bargaining rights of Air Canada maintenance employees had been compromised by their prior inclusion in a bargaining unit dominated by unskilled co-workers represented by the International Association of Aerospace Workers (IAMAW). In a supplementary decision issued November 18, 2025, the Board found that compelling maintenance employees to remain within a bargaining unit with divergent interests:

• deprived employees of meaningful representation; and,
• was not conducive to peaceful labour relations.

The Board determined that the majority of maintenance employees supported an independent bargaining unit and therefore authorized an election to determine which union – AMFA or the IAMAW – would represent these employees going forward.

Employees submitted their ballots, with the result deemed inevitable as an overwhelming majority of these employees had previously submitted authorization cards to the Board seeking AMFA representation. Nevertheless, on May 6, 2026, a CIRB “reconsideration panel” chaired by former Air Canada outside counsel Maryse Tremblay reversed the Board’s own decision and ordered the destruction of the employees’ ballots.

AMFA has denounced the Board’s decision to extinguish maintenance employees’ voting rights as an exercise of naked political power. Workers are encouraged to demonstrate their own political power by writing their MPs and demanding action.

AMFA will continue the parallel track of legal action to preserve employees’ ballots and allow them to be counted.

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The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association is a craft-oriented, independent aviation union representing technicians and related employees throughout the aviation industry. AMFA members work directly on aircraft and/or components, support equipment, and facilities. AMFA is committed to elevating the professional standing of aviation technicians and to achieving progressive improvements in wages, benefits, and working conditions of the skilled professionals it represents. For more information about AMFA, visit www.amfanational.org.