Thursday December 4, 2014
For Immediate Release
Toronto, ON – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers – IAM has filed for Common Employer Status with the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
“We are being proactive and getting in front of this pending problem,” said IAM Transportation District 140 President and General Chairperson Fred Hospes. The Airline Consortium into plane ramp fueling and tank farm Operator agreements at airports in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and other East Coast airports expire in March 2015. “The fueling employers and other competitors have indicated that the Operator Agreements will be sent out for RFP (Request for Proposals) later this year,” explained Hospes.
“We filed a Common Employer Status a decade ago and this was addressed by having all concerned parties sign a lengthy Stability Agreement which prevented the consortium from gutting our members’ wages by tendering out the work to a new service provider at entry level starting rates.” If during the Stability Agreement, a new provider was awarded a fueling contract, the Stability Agreement would apply to the new provider much like successor rights. “Without the protection of a Stability Agreement, our fueling members in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and other East Coast airports become vulnerable to the evils of the RFP tendering process,” said Hospes.
With the Stability Agreement having expired in November 2013 and the Operator Agreements expiring in March 2015 and a very real threat of the Airline Consortium attempting to tender out fueling work performed by our members, the IAM application for Common Employer Status was done in the best interest of its members.
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For further information:
Fred Hospes – IAM Transportation District 140 President and Directing General Chairperson
604-448-0721/778-829-8140
Mike Corrado – IAM Transportation District 140 General Chairperson
905-671-3192/416-407-6535
Bill Trbovich – IAM Director of Communications
416-386-1789 Ext #6331/416-735-9765