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By LuAnn LaSalle
The Canadian Press

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MONTREAL - Air Canada's biggest union could be asked to vote again on proposed labour contract that would freeze wages until March 31, 2011, after members narrowly rejected it.

The bargaining team of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is meeting Thursday and wants to meet Friday with Air Canada.

Union spokesman Bill Trbovich said the union could ask the airline whether the tentative agreement can be tweaked in any way. But he said there won't be any pay raises to get for the mechanics and other technical staff from Air Canada.

"We're trying to explain to them that there's no money to give out," Trbovich said from Toronto.

By a margin of 50.8 per cent, the workers rejected the tentative contract that would have frozen their wages for almost two years.

The rejection threatens Air Canada's efforts to gain federal approval to defer most of its pension payments for 21 months.

Trbovich said finance and clerical divisions approved the same collective agreement and all union membership needs to approve the deal so that there's a united front when it comes time to ask the federal government for changes in pension legislation.

"We need a change in legislation as to how pension plans are run."

He said the Vancouver 2010 Olympics will not be used as a bargaining chip, as reported by a Toronto newspaper.

"It's not going to be a tactic," he said.

"If we have a contract and they go ahead and try to disrupt the Olympics, it would be a wildcat strike, which would be illegal. And we're not going to do that. You'd get fined and thrown in jail."

Air Canada says it needs immediate pension relief, and is seeking $600 million in loans to survive the recession.

The Machinists union represents about 10,000 mechanics, electricians, baggage handlers and cargo agents at Air Canada.