Key service staff demand job security, work-life balance
A Labour Day strike hangs in the air at the Vancouver airport after its workers voted in favour of job action.
Approximately 300 key service staff at the Vancouver Airport Authority — who work in emergency response, international arrivals customer care, runway maintenance, airfield and approach lighting, passenger loading operations, maintenance and administrative services — could walk off the job as early as the end of August.
Fearing their jobs could be contracted out to a new breed of seasonal workers, the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE) — a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) — said on Aug. 12 that job protection and work flexibility need to be on the bargaining table.
“We felt we had no choice but to take a strike vote,” said Dave Clark, UCTE’s regional vice-president. “YVR says they're one of British Columbia's top employers, but are refusing to discuss our demands around work-life balance and job security. They also want to weaken the apprenticeship provisions in our collective agreement and create a two-tier wage system by creating a new class of 'seasonal' workers. We're prepared to strike if our key issues aren't dealt with. The next move is up to the employer.”
