Airline food workers at Pearson go on strike
Lack of food or drinks to hit Air Canada flights hardest as union fights for better wages
Taking off from Toronto Pearson airport? You could be a little hungrier on your flight on Tuesday.
More than 800 workers responsible for the cooking, packing and delivery of meals, snacks and beverages for in-flight service on major airlines like Air Canada and WestJet have gone on strike, protesting low wages.
The strike went into effect one minute past midnight on Tuesday, after Gate Gourmet’s workers voted to reject a final offer from the company.
“The labour dispute will prove highly disruptive,” a statement from the union read.
The workers of Gate Gourmet voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action on April 10, lobbying for better safety precautions and improved wages.
Workers were offered a final deal that met their “desires regarding wages, benefits, and working conditions at the unit — including a 12 per cent pay raise over three years,” a spokesperson for Gate Gourmet said.
Both parties blame each other for walking away from the negotiating table. Gate Gourmet confirmed to the Star that there are no ongoing negotiations.
“This strike will go on for as long as it takes,” Martin Cerqua, lead union negotiator and president of the Teamsters Local Union 647 representing the workers, told the Star. “We are ready to return as soon as the company has something new to offer.”
Of the 80 per cent of workers that voted on the final offer, nearly all rejected the deal on the table in favour of striking.
Between 230 and 250 flights a day could be disrupted by a walkout, according to Cerqua.
That’s about 17 to 20 per cent of all flights travelling through Pearson daily.
The union expects many flights to leave without food or drink and will mainly impact Air Canada.
Air Canada has a contingency plan in place, the airline’s vice-president of communications, Christophe Hennebelle, told the Star. International fights will not be affected, Hennebelle added. The strike will impact some North American flights leaving Toronto and flights returning to Toronto, but will most heavily impact short haul flights, he said.
For WestJet flights, the airline is advising that some routes to and from Pearson, specifically flights on Boeing 737 planes, may have “inconsistent food or beverage.” But, Westjet added in a release, it will provide either “alternative options” or food vouchers for those eligible for in-flight meals and travellers on transatlantic flights.
“WestJet is advising guests travelling to or from Toronto to plan ahead and bring an extra snack and/or beverage for their journey,” the airline added in its travel advisory.
Teamsters, the union representing the Gate Gourmet workers, said United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, TAP Air Portugal, Air India, Aeromexico, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, and Canada Jetlines could also be impacted by the potential strike
The union’s main issues are improved wages and safety. Workers at Gate Gourmet earn, on average, between $17.69 and $20 an hour, Cerqua said, which is about $3 to $6 below standard wages for the industry. It’s also under what is considered a living wage of $25.05 an hour in the GTA, according to a report by The Ontario Living Wage Network published in November.
The union also expressed concern about workers’ safety and benefits, arguing that many report feeling overworked since pandemic layoffs led to widespread labour shortages at airports.
Gate Gourmet workers told the Star they felt pressured to take on an increased workload after the workforce shrank by nearly 200 workers over the duration of the pandemic, which, they say, led to several injuries of hi-lift truck drivers being injured over the past three months.