Toronto, On – Federal officials have charged Air Canada with a series of health and safety violations in the death of IAM Local Lodge 2323 member Ian Henrey Pervez.
Pervez was killed on April 22, 2016 on the tarmac at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport when the baggage-cart tractor he was driving flipped over, throwing him from the vehicle. Federal officials allege five health and safety violations of Part II of the Canada Labour Code, by the airline contributed to the death of Pervez.
The charges were laid on April 11, 2018. Investigators found the airline to be in violation of the following provisions of the Canada Labour Code:
- Failure to ensure that the health and safety at work of Pervez was protected.
- Failure to remove from service defective vehicles that present a health and safety hazard to employees operating them.
- Failure to install seatbelts or similar restraining devices
- Failure to provide training to employees to ensure they are able to identify defects in vehicles
- Failure to take adequate preventative measures to address the hazards of operating baggage-cart tractors
“Ian Henrey Pervez expected to come home from work that day, as do all of our members,” said IAM Canadian General Vice President Stan Pickthall.
“The health and safety of our members who are employees at airports and in all workplaces across the country, must be an absolute priority for the corporations. It is clear that federal Labour officials found sufficient evidence to warrant these charges; we will be closely monitoring this case as it proceeds through the courts.”
If convicted, officials at Air Canada face maximum fines of up to $1 million or a prison term of two years according to Section 148 of the Canada Labour Code.
The IAM is the largest union at Air Canada and the largest in Canada’s air transport sector.
