Ottawa, ON – Health and Safety was the biggest concern voiced by Airport Pre-Board Screening officers at a two-day conference in the nation’s capital. The two largest unions representing more than 6,000 Airport Pre-Board Screening officers in Canada met to discuss operational issues at airports across the country.
The International Association of Machinists – IAM and the United Steelworkers – USW, represent over 90 per cent of screening officers at major airports in Canada.
“The health and safety of pre board screeners is a major concern expressed by delegates here this week,” said IAM Canadian General Vice President Stan Pickthall. “The delegates feel an independent study on X ray leakage from screening machines and rules to stop the abuse of screeners by the travelling public are necessary.”
USW National Director for Canada, Ken Neuman addressed another concern. “While pre-board screeners are deemed an essential service, there is no job security protection for these workers should the federal government change companies that provide this service,” he explained. The collective agreement for the majority of these workers expire on March 31, 2018.
Although both the IAM and USW negotiate directly with the corporations providing the pre-board screening on behalf of the federal government and CATSA (Canadian Air Transport Security Agency), many of the issues need to be addressed by the federal government.
However it became clear that Transport Canada and CATSA were not aware of many of these issues. Representatives from CATSA and Transport Canada attended the conference and heard first-hand how these issues placed additional stress on the screeners. “Relationship building between CATSA and its partners like Transport Canada and the largest group – the workers, are essential,” said Pickthall. “Having the major stakeholders here to make presentations to delegates, field their questions and give assurances they will take these concerns back to their superiors was a major step forward for this conference,” said IAM Airline Coordinator and conference co-facilitator Carlos DaCosta. “We hope to have them back for the next conference.”
