Toronto, ON – Members of IAM Local Lodge 2413 with the support from the Workers Action Centre, CUPE and UNIFOR, took their fight to save the jobs of refueling workers at Toronto Pearson Airport, to the offices of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA).
An airline consortium led by Air Canada and West Jet will not renew its agreement with Consolidated Aviation to supply fuel at both Pearson in Toronto and Trudeau International in Montreal. The consortium has already signed agreements with other fueling providers resulting in more than 300 IAM members losing their jobs by June 30, 2015 in Montreal and October 1, 2015 in Toronto. The affected IAM members can apply for their old jobs with a new employer but at wages that pay 30 per cent less. This is exactly the outcome the Workers Action Centre is trying to avoid. With the support of the IAM and other airport unions, the WAC is seeking the establishment of a $15.00/hour minimum wage for workers at Pearson and Billy Bishop Airports.
The IAM has filed an unfair labour practice with the Canada Industrial Relations Board regarding the behavior of the consortium and has also applied to have Air Canada deemed the common employer. The IAM has also applied to the CIRB for an interim order to halt the supplier changeover until the Board has determined who the real employer is. The agreement must have the approval of the GTAA to go forward and the protestors are asking the airport authority to deny the approval.
