Montreal Airport Refuelers on Strike Against Substandard Conditions
Striking airport refuelers rally in Montreal,
January 16, 2020. (IAMAW
Canada)
The workers who refuel all the planes at
Montreal's Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau and Mirabel
airports have been on strike since December 31,
2019. These roughly 100 workers, who are members of
the International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local 2301, refuel
about 500 planes a day. Their collective
agreement with their employer Swissport Canada
Inc., expired in August 2019; negotiations for a
new contract began May 23, 2019.
On December 28, 2019, the workers who voted on
a tentative deal rejected it by 90 per cent.
This followed an earlier vote of 99 per cent in
favour of a strike mandate.
Swissport International AG is one of the
world's largest airport ground services and air
cargo handling monopolies. Swissport was
subcontracted for refueling services by the
Canadian Consortium of Air Carriers (of which
Air Canada is a member) in 2015. The consortium
favoured Swissport over U.S.-based CAFAS which
had been the subcontracted refueler for many
years.
Subcontracting of ground services and other
services is common practice. Service providers
compete to be the lowest bidder and the air
carriers see this as a great advantage for them,
profit-wise. As well, subcontracting enables
them to deny any social responsibility to the
workers providing the services and to the
public.
The strike at the Montreal airports raises the
issue of "contract flipping," which is becoming
more and more common at Canadian airports. It is
a major tool used by employers to wipe out union
rights and impose lower wages and working
conditions to increase their private profit.
When contracts are "flipped" to a new service
provider, workers must re-apply for their jobs.
The new employer is not bound to recognize
seniority or the workers' union, nor is it
required to maintain the wages or benefits
previously won by the workers who are forced to
start from scratch. It is one of the ways in
which workers are pushed into precariousness
with pay that is close to minimum wage with few,
if any, benefits.
The airport workers who are affected by this
contract flipping deliver a crucial service that
impacts the safety of airline passengers, other
workers and the general public. They refuel
planes, often in extreme hot or cold
temperatures, on airport grounds that are more
and more clogged with planes and heavy
equipment, while exposed to loud noise and other
hazardous conditions. Airport workers in
Montreal, as well as Toronto Pearson Airport
workers, are waging a determined fight against
this practice.
The flipping of the contract between CAFAS and
Swissport led to a straight loss of wages of
about 33 per cent, a reduction from $24 an hour
to about $16 an hour. Their paid vacation time
dropped from five to two weeks. They lost their
company pension plan and most of their benefits.
Most importantly, because of the untenable
working conditions, there is a huge staff
turnover. This in turn affects safety of the
workers, passengers, crew and the general public
because companies then rapidly hire new workers
who receive minimal training. Accidents on the
tarmac are on the increase.
With their strike, airport workers are saying
that "Enough is Enough!" They are going public
with their demands and their experience. On
January 15 they held a rally in front of the
Swissport Main Office in Montreal which was
attended by the striking workers, other workers
and union representatives. They presented their
demands for a significant improvement in their
wages and working conditions so as to stop staff
turnover. They demanded adequate training for
all employees. They demanded that Transport
Canada and the federal government intervene to
stop the reckless contract flipping by amending
the Canada Labour Code so that union
rights are maintained when a new employer is
awarded a contract, and that already negotiated
wages and working conditions are maintained with
the new employer. They demanded that the Labour
Code forbid the use of scabs in labour
disputes. They opposed the current trend of the
monopolies, with the assistance of the
government, to make airports a paradigm of
precariousness and substandard conditions.
Several of the unions that participated offered
financial support and pledged funds from their
locals to help the workers win this fight.
The practice of Transport Canada of turning a
blind eye to the wrecking of working conditions
and safety standards in Canadian airports is
"explained" with the self-serving argument that
airport governance changed in Canada in the
1990s so that airports are no longer owned and
operated by the federal government. As far as
the Montreal airports are concerned, Transport
Canada retains ownership but an independent
entity has been created to operate them.
Transport Canada has reduced itself to being
a mere observer of deregulated airport
authorities and carriers, as is the case with
the railways, rather than a public authority
that upholds standards and regulations.
According to Transport Canada, contract flipping
by the airport authority and the carriers to
impose substandard conditions and jeopardize
safety is a purely private business matter. The
only responsibility that Transport Canada
acknowledges is to rubber stamp the reports that
they produce. This is putting airport workers
and all Canadians at risk and must not pass.
The strike of the airport workers in Montreal
is courageous. It is a fight for their rights
and for the rights and safety of all. It must be
vigorously supported by all workers.
This article was published in
Number 2 - January 22, 2020
Article Link:
Montreal Airport Refuelers on Strike Against Substandard Conditions
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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