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Airline workers prepared to walk Union members vote 99 per cent in favour of strike mandate; Canadian North bargaining deadline is Sept. 11
Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Friday, September 6, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Close to 40 Yellowknife airline workers are prepared to walk off the job as next week's collective bargaining deadline between Unifor and Canadian North looms closer.
A Rankin Inlet-bound Canadian North Boeing 737 taxis in the Yellowknife Airport. If the company and Unifor Airline local 2002 negotiators do not reach a collective bargaining agreement by Wednesday at midnight, 37 cargo workers and passenger service agents in the city are prepared to walk off the job. - NNSL file photo |
If an agreement is not reached by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday night, the company can issue a 72-hour lockout notice or the union can issue a 72-hour strike notice, according to Unifor national representative and labour negotiator Bruce Snow.
Unifor is the name of the new union that represents the former Canadian Auto Workers and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, which merged on Aug. 31.
The 139 Canadian North passenger service agents and cargo employees with Unifor Airline local 2002 have been without a collective bargaining agreement since Dec. 31. Six previous rounds of negotiations between Feb. 14 and June 4 failed to achieve an agreement.
From Aug. 18 to 24, Snow and two other union negotiators met with workers in Yellowknife, Norman Wells, Inuvik, Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit and Edmonton. Union members voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate by secret ballot during the meetings.
Snow declined to elaborate on the specific points of contention while negotiations with the company remain open.
However, according to an Aug. 26 communique issued by Unifor negotiators Aida Kirameddine of Edmonton and Theresa Amicarelli of Toronto, union members in each of the communities "were outraged at Canadian North's unreasonable concessions" in regards to the Northern Living Allowance, terms of vacation, and wages and premiums for certain positions.
During previous collective bargaining negotiations in 2009, the union permitted wages to remain lower than would have been achievable in the aviation industry at the time and relaxed its position on benefits and outsourcing in an effort to help the company build its bottom line, according to Snow.
"The union, wanting to be progressive, worked with the employer to collaborate on an agreement that gave that company the opportunity where we could assist them to become prosperous in the market," he said, adding the bargaining dynamics have changed since then. "They are prosperous, and now our members are due their fair share."
Canadian North employs 11 cargo workers and 26 passenger service agents in Yellowknife, with another 17 workers affected in Norman Wells and Inuvik, 54 in Nunavut and 31 in Edmonton.
The union and the company are scheduled to begin their latest negotiations in Edmonton at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, with assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services under the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
Snow said he is confident an agreement can be reached by as early as Tuesday night.
"At this stage, though, we are confident that with a 99 per cent strike mandate behind us, we have the support of our members to secure a fair and reasonable collective agreement," he said.
Canadian North marketing manager Lisa Hicks was similarly optimistic.
"We have always reached agreements with all our bargaining units and anticipate the same outcome through this process," she stated in an e-mail to Yellowknifer, declining any further comment.
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