Should the Federal Government Intervene if Air Canada Pilots go on Strike?
From September 5 to 11, 2024, Abacus Data conducted a national survey of 2,761 Canadian adults as part of our regular national omnibus surveys. On this survey, we asked two questions about the possibility of a pilot strike at Air Canada. These questions were paid for by the Air Canada Pilots Master Executive Council of ALPA.
The results find that 2 in 3 Canadians are aware of the possibility of a pilot of strike at Air Canada next week and only 1 in 3 believe the federal government should intervene in the labour dispute.
2 in 3 Canadian Aware that Air Canada Pilots Could Be on Strike Next Week
Sixty-eight percent of Canadians say they are aware that there is a chance that pilots working at Air Canada may go on strike. Awareness is consistent across the political support and is very high among those who are planning to fly on Air Canada in the coming week.
2 in 3 Canadians Don’t Believe the Federal Government Should Intervene in Labour Disputes
We asked Canadians:
If Air Canada’s pilots do strike, do you think the federal government should intervene and force the pilots back to work, or do you think it should respect their right to strike and force Air Canada to come to an agreement with their pilots, even if it leads to travel disruptions?
More Canadians (43%) feel that the federal government should respect the right of workers to strike, even if it leads to travel disruptions than feel the government should intereve (31%). Another 26% say they don’t have clear views either way.
Politically, a plurality or a majority of supporters of all the major political parties prefer the government doesn’t intervene and respects the right of workers to strike. 41% of Liberal supporters, 42% of Conservative supporters, and 58% of NDP supporters favour the government not intervening.
Among those who plan on flying on Air Canada next week, 56% want the government to intervene while 37% want the government to respect the right of workers to strike, even if it leads to travel disruptions.
The Upshot
Most Canadians are aware that Air Canada’s pilots may be on strike next week and few think the federal govermnent should intervene to prevent travel disruptions. Most striking is the relative consistency of opinion across the political spectrum.
It’s also noteworthy that even 1 in 3 of those who are likely to be most disrupted by a strike think the government should stay out of the dispute between pilots and their employer.
At this point, there is little public appetite for government intervention in this labour dispute and the cross-partisan consistency of results explains why both Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh have voiced support for pilots.
Methodology
The survey was conducted with 2,761 Canadian adults from September 5 to 11, 2024. A random sample of panelists were invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, blended to manage out potential skews in the data from a single source.
The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 1.903%, 19 times out of 20.
The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
This survey was paid for by the Air Canada Pilots Master Executive Council of ALPA Canada.
Abacus Data follows the CRIC Public Opinion Research Standards and Disclosure Requirements that can be found here: https://canadianresearchinsightscouncil.ca/standards/
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