VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Members of Air Canada's biggest labor union, who rejected a tentative contract agreement with the carrier last week, will vote again on the deal on July 14 after the two sides talked over the weekend, a union spokesman said on Monday.
Air Canada said in a statement that it and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) had "agreed on the clarification of certain issues". The two sides also agreed on a "prompt re-vote on the original agreements".
Representatives of the union and Air Canada, the country's biggest carrier, reached a tentative 21-month agreement on June 8 on a new labor agreement, as well as a deal that will allow the airline to temporarily halt funding a deep pension deficit.
But members of the 12,300-strong IAMAW narrowly rejected the agreements in a vote last week, a surprising outcome and a troubling one for the cash-strapped airline.
Union support is critical for Air Canada to gain federal approval for a temporary freeze on pension funding and C$600 million ($517 million) in short-term loans.
Without a pension moratorium and the new financing, analysts say the carrier could be headed for its second bankruptcy filing in six years.
IAMAW spokesman Bill Trbovich said on Monday that a revote will be held among its members across Canada next Tuesday, with results likely announced that day. He declined to comment further and would not say what issues had been clarified in weekend talks.
Air Canada was not immediately available for comment.
The IAMAW represents technical, maintenance and operational support, clerical and finance employees at Air Canada.
Mechanics are worried their aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul work will be transferred to Aveos Fleet Performance Inc in El Salvador, a sister company previously called Air Canada Technical Services, which was spun off in 2007.
There are more than 11,000 technical, maintenance, and operational services workers in the bargaining unit, which voted 50.8 percent against Air Canada's offer. Smaller clerical and finance units were strongly in favor of ratification.
Two unions that represent customer service staff and dispatchers at Air Canada have already ratified 21-month agreements, while the unions representing flight attendants and pilots are expected to vote next week.
Air Canada's B shares were down 5 Canadian cents at C$1.35 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday morning. Its variable voting A shares were off 4 Canadian cents at C$1.39.
($1=$1.16 Canadian)
(Reporting by Nicole Mordant and Scott Anderson; editing by Rob Wilson)
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