Ground Crew at Toronto and Montreal Airports have walked off the job in support of three colleagues who were suspended for heckling a government minister. The government respond by threatening to use the police to break up the strike.
Workers employed by Air Canada at Pearson International Airport have staged a wildcat strike in support of three suspended colleagues.
The strike started late on Thursday evening when three workers were suspended for heckling the Federal Labour Minister as she walked past them on her way to catch a flight. The Minister had earlier this month tabled ‘back to work’ legislation in order to prevent a strike by baggage handlers, cargo agents, and mechanics.
The Canadian Government is considering the use of law enforcement agencies to deal with strike.
A Government spokesperson said:
"The government of Canada is opposed to this illegal strike action that is disrupting travel for Canadians. Law enforcement agencies have been contacted, and will be deployed if necessary," she said in a statement. She added that if the union's job action was later ruled by the Canada Industrial Relations Board to be an illegal strike, employees could face fines up to C$1,000 ($1,000) a day, and the union up to C$100,000 a day.”
The strike has caused severe disruption, and by 7am this morning more than 100 flights had been cancelled. Hundreds of workers arrived early this morning at the airport for a demonstration.
Ground crew working at Montreal have also walked off the job in solidarity with their colleagues in Toronto. True to form, the union that represents the workers are brown nosing the bosses and trying desperately to persuade workers to end their strike.
Comments
From the CBC: Quote: Air
From the CBC:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/03/23/air-canada-wildcat.html?cmp=rss
Thanks for the update, looks
Thanks for the update, looks like a good result for the workers
Well, fuck, that sounds like
Well, fuck, that sounds like a win!
Thanks for the write up WCSO.
This is the second time the
This is the second time the govt. has used back to work legislation against Air Canada employees, they did the same thing last June, having declared that the airline was an essential service.
Incidentally, there was a lot of disruption to air travel at the weekend, mostly weather related but a significantly higher than normal number of Air Canada pilots called in sick that day too.