January 27, 2012 at 8:57 PM
On January 26, 2012, Cofely, the company who recently was awarded the contract to maintain the Terminal one baggage system for the GTAA, began interviewing WEBB workers for approximately 100 positions at Pearson airport. Our members are being interviewed to maintain the jobs they currently perform.
At the interviews, members were shocked to learn that the starting salary for these positions would be half the amount of money they currently earn today.
CAW President Ken Lewenza called the situation outrageous and wasted no time in contacting President and CEO of the GTAA Lloyd McCoomb, demanding that Cofely respect the workers who have invested years and expertise doing their jobs.
"Talk about adding insult to injury,” Lewenza commented. "Through no fault of their own, Webb’s contract was not renewed, throwing 100 CAW members out of work. Then, if the new employer choses to retain their services, our members have to take a fifty per cent wage cut.”
The plight of Webb workers is a high priority for the CAW; President Ken Lewenza is involved first hand and has asked to be consulted at every level. The CAW represents over 200,000 workers across Canada and will call upon all internal and external resources to ensure that workers are treated with fairness and dignity.
"Cofely is way out of line.” said Local 2002 President Jamie Ross. "These employees have worked incredibly hard and we intend to fight until our members at Webb get the fair deal they deserve.”
On January 27, National Representative Leslie Dias and Executive Assistant Ashley Watkins met with the GTAA to request that the airport authority intervene. The GTAA has a vested interest in ensuring a smooth transition when they chose to change airport service providers. As well, they should not be orchestrating the decimation of well-paid jobs and converting them to minimum wage jobs where workers can’t survive. In response, the GTAA has asked for time to fully investigate and a follow-up meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, February 2.
Meanwhile, the Joint Planning Committee held their second meeting via a conference call on January 27, 2012. They are currently developing a question and answer (FAQ) bulletin for employees. The union will continue to provide regular updates as progress is achieved.
This is an incredibly stressful time for the membership at Webb and we ask that members exercise patience as the union attempts to resolve these issues. We will continue to communicate all information as it becomes available and additional membership meetings will be scheduled.