Pearson coping with strike
Use of temporary workers, scheduling among union’s issues with Swissport
Operations at Pearson airport appeared to be running smoothly Friday, despite a strike by about 700 ground-crew workers.
The workers employed by Swissport handle baggage and cargo, tow planes, clean cabins and perform flight operations tasks for more than 30 airlines, including British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, Sunwing and Air Transat.
“So far, it is business as usual and we will be keeping a close watch to ensure that it remains this way,” Swissport Canada’s vice-president of operations Pierre Payette said Friday morning.
Air Canada said it won’t be affected by the strike, as it operates its own baggage handling. WestJet isn’t affected either because it uses a different company.
Major U.S. airlines Delta, United and American are also not on the list of companies Swissport serves.
More than 30 striking members of Teamster Local Union 419 were marching up and down the departures area of Terminal 3, after walking off the job Thursday night. Wearing their green and white union shirts, the workers were holding up strike signs and chanting “419” as people entered the airport.
A few passengers said there has been no significant delays and services continue to run smoothly.
Justin Edwards, a Canadian pro basketball player who plays in the Hungarian league, said it was “actually pretty quick.” More than 700 crew members employed by Swissport went on strike Friday after rejecting the company’s offer. Their last collective agreement expired Sunday.
“We’ve been in negotiations with Swissport since March. Both parties are very far apart on a lot of key issues, monetary and non-monetary,” said Teamster Local Union 419 vice-president Harjinder Badial.
“We want to get back to the table and hammer things out, but we’ll be here as long as it takes.”
Badial said passengers should expect to deal with lost luggage, significant delays and flight cancellations during the strike. Payette said the company is shocked that the workers rejected their offer. He said the proposal pre- sented was well above what their direct competitors at Pearson provide their employees.
“It included compensation increases for all employees; equal pay for equal seniority; faster access to competitive group insurance benefits; and provisions to promote a better work life balance,” Payette said in a statement.
According to the union, Swissport is trying to impose a three-year wage freeze on most of the workers. It said the company also wants staff to work a minimum of 30 hours a week to get full benefits, and the right to change schedules with 96 hours’ notice.
Jay Nariyan, a crew member for 16 years, said the Swissport workers are striking because they’re not respected.
“They’re cutting our benefits, they want full control of our scheduling, which means one day you could work mornings, next day you could work nights, next day you’re working overnights,” Nariyan said. “They want to have the power to change our schedule with 96 hours’ notice.”
Nariyan said the workers don’t want to inconvenience the public but the strike is the only way to get their voices heard.
The union has also taken issue with the company’s decision to hire 250 temporary workers last May.
“We’re shocked at how Swissport is willing to sacrifice airport safety and jeopardize travel plans to gain an upper hand at the barraging table,” Badial said.
According to the union, crew members are required to train for three to four weeks. But it said temporary workers only received three to four days of training, which led to several accidents, cases of lost luggage and even damage to a plane.
“Definitely not (up to par), even when we were working with them. We had no choice, we had to work with them, they’re causing damage to aircrafts, some of them are getting injured,” Nariyan said.
Payette denies the allegations of temporary workers being undertrained, cases of luggage lost and damages to a plane.
“All of our workers — employees and agency workers — receive the training that is appropriate for their roles,” he said. “All workers go through the same process that is mandated by Transport Canada and managed by the GTAA.”
Airport officials are asking for passengers to check with their airlines on the status of their flights before heading to Pearson.