‘Go back to work,’ union tells Air Canada wildcat strikers. Fired workers reinstated
Air Canada won an injunction against its ground workers in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City after wildcat strikes in Toronto and Montreal cancelled or delayed dozens of flights.
The workers walked out Thursday night, reportedly after some of them were disciplined for heckling federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt.
“We have sought an injunction and I understand it has been granted,” Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick told the Star at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
At the same time, the 37 workers fired by Air Canada after the Raitt incident were reinstated without penalty, IAMAW union spokesman Bill Trbovich told the Star shortly before 10 a.m.
“That’s what we were hoping for. We don’t condone the strike. This is a sad situation,” he said.
RELATED: Angry passengers speak out
“We advise you to go back to work,” union official Chuck Atkinson told 300 striking ground workers outside Terminal 1 shortly after 10 a.m.
Three people who heckled Raitt will return to work after a 72-hour suspension, he told workers. No one will be fired.
If they don’t return, he warned, “Not only will you be fined, you’ll get criminal charges.”
Few workers left the angry crowd outside Terminal 1, however.
“We’re not going back to work until we get a promise from Air Canada at the negotiating table. The actual issues haven’t been addressed. We won’t go back if any of us are disciplined,” said striking ground worker Sean Gogain.
Airport workers belonging to the CAW and CUPE unions joined the strikers with signs. A purple bus belonging to CUPE 966 arrived at midmorning with chocolate chip cookies and water for the strikers.
Hundreds of Air Canada flights in and out of Pearson International Airport and dozens more flights in and out of Montreal’s Pierre Trudeau International Airport and the Quebec City airport were hit by the walkout.
“Lisa Raitt came on one of our flights. Got heckled. Entire ramp walked out at YYZ (Pearson),” said a text received by one striker Thursday night shortly after 10 p.m.
Three people were originally disciplined for heckling Raitt, Trbovich said, and ultimately 37 ground workers were fired by Air Canada.
“Workers started clapping and saying, ‘Thanks for taking our right to strike,’” ramp worker Geoff Ward, 52, said.
“Corporate security were trying to provoke us,” said baggage worker Pascal Leroux, 43. “The reaction was heavy-handed.”
“Pearson started last night and Trudeau started this morning,” airport spokeswoman Marie-Claude Desgagnes said.
“The Government of Canada is opposed to this illegal strike action that is disrupting travel for Canadians,” Raitt spokeswoman Ashley Kelahear said in an email.
“Law enforcement agencies will be deployed if necessary. If IAMAW’s job action is later ruled to be illegal, employees could face fines of up to $1,000 a day and the union could face fines of up to $100,000 a day.”
Off-duty airport workers who belong to the Canadian Auto Workers joined the picket line.
One customer service worker said she was there because the suspensions “were the icing on the cake. The meat and potatoes of it is our right to strike has been stripped away.”
“The public doesn’t understand. They think we’re overpaid monkeys,” said Randy Hale, 55, a ramp worker.
Striking ground workers handed out a sheet explaining their wildcat.
“The use of forced overtime and the systematic and persistent discipline of employees without due process with the heavy handed tactics they use to intimidate and demoralize the workforce must cease.
“We want a ruling from the CIRB (Canadian Industrial Resolution Board) on whether or not we are an essential service.”
At Pearson, about 200 people lined up in front of the Tim Hortons counter as stranded passengers clogged Terminal 1.
Among them was federal Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver, whose Toronto to Sudbury flight was cancelled. He called it “regrettable” that passengers were inconvenienced.
Travellers were urged to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
A list of the flights affected is available on the website.
Passenger Dionne Duncan, 39, was standing in a long line of people at the Air Canada ticket desk. She had a ticket rebooking number and had tried calling for an hour, but “it’s as if the phone is off the hook.”
Jane Halas’s Vancouver to Ottawa flight stranded her in Toronto en route to visit a sick mother-in-law.
“I think they should be fired. I won’t be flying Air Canada anymore. I’ll be flying WestJet.”
In the deserted baggage claim area, hundreds and hundreds of pieces of luggage from Thursday night sat lined up.
Air Canada has been plagued with labour troubles over the last year.
The airline and its pilots and mechanics have been in a bitter contract feud that prompted the federal government to recently step in with legislation banning strikes or lockouts at the airline.
Raitt insisted the government had to act to protect the national economy.
Ottawa also had to intervene in contract disputes involving the airline’s flight attendants and its customer service agents.
The walkout began Thursday evening, leaving hundreds of passengers in limbo.
Many people had to leave flights already on the tarmac until management was able take over some baggage handling duties and allow the delayed flights to continue to their destination.
Soon after the job action began, many passengers said they had no idea where their luggage was, or how they were going to get to their destinations. One passenger described the situation at the airport as “a zoo.”
Another passenger, Aaron Huizing, was heading back to his home in Ottawa from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic when the walkout began.
Huizing, who was travelling with a group of 30 people, said he never should have booked a vacation with the airline.
“I say the same thing every time: ‘I’m never going to deal with Air Canada again.’ Maybe next time I’ll listen to myself,” he said.
Other passengers were worried about what the job action will mean for their families.
“We’ve got people taking care of our kids back home who have to go to work in the morning,” said Ryan Tuck, who was also on a connecting flight from Los Angeles bound for Ottawa.
“I’m not too happy,” added Tuck. “We’re getting mixed messages from Air Canada and we don’t even know where our luggage is or what to do next.”
There was no immediate sign that Raitt would intervene in the dispute.
A spokesperson in Raitt’s office told The Canadian Press in an email that “these issues fall with Air Canada internally.”
Should Air Canada feel the job action constitutes an illegal strike, the spokesperson said, “they can bring this matter to the Canadian Industrial Resolution Board.”
Earlier Thursday, angry Air Canada workers rallied in front of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s constituency office in Calgary to send him what they called a symbolic message.
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The workers walked out Thursday night, reportedly after some of them were disciplined for heckling federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt.
“We have sought an injunction and I understand it has been granted,” Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick told the Star at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
At the same time, the 37 workers fired by Air Canada after the Raitt incident were reinstated without penalty, IAMAW union spokesman Bill Trbovich told the Star shortly before 10 a.m.
“That’s what we were hoping for. We don’t condone the strike. This is a sad situation,” he said.
RELATED: Angry passengers speak out
“We advise you to go back to work,” union official Chuck Atkinson told 300 striking ground workers outside Terminal 1 shortly after 10 a.m.
Three people who heckled Raitt will return to work after a 72-hour suspension, he told workers. No one will be fired.
If they don’t return, he warned, “Not only will you be fined, you’ll get criminal charges.”
Few workers left the angry crowd outside Terminal 1, however.
“We’re not going back to work until we get a promise from Air Canada at the negotiating table. The actual issues haven’t been addressed. We won’t go back if any of us are disciplined,” said striking ground worker Sean Gogain.
Airport workers belonging to the CAW and CUPE unions joined the strikers with signs. A purple bus belonging to CUPE 966 arrived at midmorning with chocolate chip cookies and water for the strikers.
Hundreds of Air Canada flights in and out of Pearson International Airport and dozens more flights in and out of Montreal’s Pierre Trudeau International Airport and the Quebec City airport were hit by the walkout.
“Lisa Raitt came on one of our flights. Got heckled. Entire ramp walked out at YYZ (Pearson),” said a text received by one striker Thursday night shortly after 10 p.m.
Three people were originally disciplined for heckling Raitt, Trbovich said, and ultimately 37 ground workers were fired by Air Canada.
“Workers started clapping and saying, ‘Thanks for taking our right to strike,’” ramp worker Geoff Ward, 52, said.
“Corporate security were trying to provoke us,” said baggage worker Pascal Leroux, 43. “The reaction was heavy-handed.”
“Pearson started last night and Trudeau started this morning,” airport spokeswoman Marie-Claude Desgagnes said.
“The Government of Canada is opposed to this illegal strike action that is disrupting travel for Canadians,” Raitt spokeswoman Ashley Kelahear said in an email.
“Law enforcement agencies will be deployed if necessary. If IAMAW’s job action is later ruled to be illegal, employees could face fines of up to $1,000 a day and the union could face fines of up to $100,000 a day.”
Off-duty airport workers who belong to the Canadian Auto Workers joined the picket line.
One customer service worker said she was there because the suspensions “were the icing on the cake. The meat and potatoes of it is our right to strike has been stripped away.”
“The public doesn’t understand. They think we’re overpaid monkeys,” said Randy Hale, 55, a ramp worker.
Striking ground workers handed out a sheet explaining their wildcat.
“The use of forced overtime and the systematic and persistent discipline of employees without due process with the heavy handed tactics they use to intimidate and demoralize the workforce must cease.
“We want a ruling from the CIRB (Canadian Industrial Resolution Board) on whether or not we are an essential service.”
At Pearson, about 200 people lined up in front of the Tim Hortons counter as stranded passengers clogged Terminal 1.
Among them was federal Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver, whose Toronto to Sudbury flight was cancelled. He called it “regrettable” that passengers were inconvenienced.
Travellers were urged to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
A list of the flights affected is available on the website.
Passenger Dionne Duncan, 39, was standing in a long line of people at the Air Canada ticket desk. She had a ticket rebooking number and had tried calling for an hour, but “it’s as if the phone is off the hook.”
Jane Halas’s Vancouver to Ottawa flight stranded her in Toronto en route to visit a sick mother-in-law.
“I think they should be fired. I won’t be flying Air Canada anymore. I’ll be flying WestJet.”
In the deserted baggage claim area, hundreds and hundreds of pieces of luggage from Thursday night sat lined up.
Air Canada has been plagued with labour troubles over the last year.
The airline and its pilots and mechanics have been in a bitter contract feud that prompted the federal government to recently step in with legislation banning strikes or lockouts at the airline.
Raitt insisted the government had to act to protect the national economy.
Ottawa also had to intervene in contract disputes involving the airline’s flight attendants and its customer service agents.
The walkout began Thursday evening, leaving hundreds of passengers in limbo.
Many people had to leave flights already on the tarmac until management was able take over some baggage handling duties and allow the delayed flights to continue to their destination.
Soon after the job action began, many passengers said they had no idea where their luggage was, or how they were going to get to their destinations. One passenger described the situation at the airport as “a zoo.”
Another passenger, Aaron Huizing, was heading back to his home in Ottawa from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic when the walkout began.
Huizing, who was travelling with a group of 30 people, said he never should have booked a vacation with the airline.
“I say the same thing every time: ‘I’m never going to deal with Air Canada again.’ Maybe next time I’ll listen to myself,” he said.
Other passengers were worried about what the job action will mean for their families.
“We’ve got people taking care of our kids back home who have to go to work in the morning,” said Ryan Tuck, who was also on a connecting flight from Los Angeles bound for Ottawa.
“I’m not too happy,” added Tuck. “We’re getting mixed messages from Air Canada and we don’t even know where our luggage is or what to do next.”
There was no immediate sign that Raitt would intervene in the dispute.
A spokesperson in Raitt’s office told The Canadian Press in an email that “these issues fall with Air Canada internally.”
Should Air Canada feel the job action constitutes an illegal strike, the spokesperson said, “they can bring this matter to the Canadian Industrial Resolution Board.”
Earlier Thursday, angry Air Canada workers rallied in front of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s constituency office in Calgary to send him what they called a symbolic message.
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