April 10, 2015 at 5:30 PM
On Wednesday and Thursday, hundreds of people braved gale force winds and
torrential rains to protest attacks on good jobs by the Greater Toronto Airport
Authority (GTAA).
Two days of rallies and information sharing were held in and around Pearson
Airport to protest the proposed outsourcing of services for passengers requiring
assistance, work that has belonged to Air Canada customer service agents for
almost 70 years. Labour and community leaders from across Ontario spoke out
against the ongoing, destructive trend in the airline industry to transform good
jobs to low-paying precarious work. It’s the Midas touch in reverse for workers
who can never get ahead and are often left worse off over time.
There is a lot of finger pointing about who is responsible for the drive to
eliminate 130 special service positions; Air Canada says it is the GTAA forcing
them to go with a third party service provider, the airport authority says they
are outsourcing the work in order to "standardize levels of service." We say
that the GTAA has no business in involving themselves in what is clearly our
bargaining unit scope work that has been done by members at Air Canada for
decades.
Regardless of who the corporate culprit is, the finger really only points one
way for workers – down. This ongoing and detrimental trend of contract flipping
and outsourcing has to stop.
"We are drawing our line in the sand," says Local 2002 president Cheryl
Robinson. "It time to put the brakes on the race to the bottom and protect good
jobs in Canada."
What do we want? Good jobs!
We want to make a decent wage and have pride in ourselves as we help all
travellers, young, old and those with special needs.
"We know how to do our jobs and we do it well," remarked one agent at the
rally. "Just give us enough staff and the right tools so that we can give our
passengers the service they deserve."
Busloads of seniors, many who rely on the professional assistance that our
members at Air Canada provide, came from far and wide to offer their support for
good jobs and good workers.
"My wife and I have had to use the services of these dedicated workers who
assist disabled passengers with dignity and respect," commented retiree Hector
McLellan. "[Unifor president] Jerry Dias has put companies and government on
notice that Unifor will fight to ensure that when businesses contract out to
escape union contracts, Unifor will be there to ensure union contracts will be
maintained."
What do we want – Low Pay? NO WAY!
We want to go to sleep at night knowing that we have a job and benefits to
wake up to.
Eve Graham has been a customer service agent at Air Canada for twenty five
years. "I’m a single mum and I couldn’t have raised my two children without
decent wages and benefits," said Eve. "People who’ve been hired over the
last few years should have the same security, but they don't."
We want to stand side by side with our colleagues knowing that we are all
valued equally and paid fairly.
Although Philippe Buckland has worked as an Air Canada customer service agent
for three years, he makes little more than minimum wage. Raising two young
children, he worries about making ends meet and finding family time in between
"brutal" shifts.
"People think that working for Air Canada is a passport to the world," he
says. "Even with two incomes, we can barely afford to take the kids to
McDonalds, let alone on a vacation."
As a junior agent, Philippe now has the added stress that, if Air Canada bows
to the GTAA and allows them to outsource 130 positions, he may soon be out of a
job.
In their corporate mission statement, Air Canada says, "All employees are
valued. We respect. We listen. We act."
Many of our members had parents or family members who were employed at Air
Canada back in the day, when working for an airline was something to aspire to
and be proud of.
We want to be able to tell our kids and our neighbours that Air Canada’s
mission statement is not just a bunch of random meaningless words. We want to
believe that Air Canada does value and respect its employees and that it is
still a great place to work.
Following Thursday’s demonstrations at the GTAA headquarters, Unifor
leadership met with senior GTAA officials Nicole Deloges and Craig Bradbrook.
"Unifor intends use any and every legal avenue possible to defend what is
clearly our scope work," said Cheryl Robinson. "If we can summon these massive
crowds on cold, wet and windy days, imagine what Unifor can do when the sun
comes out!"
The grueling weather over the two days did not hinder the voices of over 400
people proclaiming the need to protect good jobs at Pearson; their rallying cry
will continue to be heard loud and clear across the country.
What do we want?
Good jobs.
And when do we want them?
NOW!
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