January 19, 2021 at 2:00 PM
In a bold and ruthless move, Porter Airlines is targeting laid-off Unifor members to reduce operating costs and allow non-union employee groups to proceed unharmed.
Announced to members late Friday afternoon in a company memo, Porter Airlines advised that they would be withdrawing from the government’s Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program next month. Additionally, the employer is also eliminating health care benefits for its laid-off members effective January 22, 2021, in what they say is, "absolutely necessary to ensure our survival." Unifor clearly sees Porter Airlines as an unprincipled employer that is using the pandemic as an excuse to claw back wages and benefits from its workers.
In a statement released earlier today, Unifor National President Jerry Dias stated, "This employer wanted to open the collective agreement and cut 10%. The problem is that for most of these workers, a 10% cut would put them well below minimum wage. It's clear that the decision to stop CEWS and benefits for those on layoff is retaliatory."
In 2018, all three of Unifor’s bargaining units – Customer Service, Ramp and Fixed Based Operations – ratified their respective collective agreements. Within these agreements, Porter actually saw a decrease to their benefit costs as the benefit co-sharing plans were reduced to 65% company / 35% union (down from 80% company / 20% union). This language is (and remains) part of the Unifor-Porter collective bargaining agreement. However, Porter is stating that these cost-saving benefit measures are "provided outside of the [Unifor] collective agreements."
Even prior to announcing these recent cost-saving measures, Porter slashed its employee benefits in October, and took most of the paramedical benefits in what they believed would help their fiscal bottom line. However, Unifor contested this decision and is awaiting an arbitration hearing scheduled for February 18, 2021.
Conversations with Porter Airlines have been ongoing throughout the pandemic, however, there has been little appetite [from the employer] to assist their loyal and hard-working members, many of whom earn a little more than Ontario's minimum wage standard. These actions are deplorable and outright disgusting for an airline that boasts they are "Canada’s top-rated airline, with a best-in-class reputation." We disagree Porter. It’s time for you to treat your employees with the respect they deserve.
Unifor will continue to deal with these issues and exercise all avenues available in order to contest what Porter Airlines is carrying out. More information will be announced as it becomes available.
For more information, please contact:
Ashley Watkins, Assistant to the Local 2002 President
/21-01-19 Porter operations update en.txt