Porter Airlines workers set up picket lines outside Toronto island airport

Porter Airlines reported no delays in its flight schedule on Thursday after workers who fuel planes at Toronto’s island airport walked off the job.

“No problems at all,” said Jeff Swystun, who arrived on a morning flight from Ottawa. “The flight was actually ahead of schedule.”

The 22 striking workers, who fuel planes for Porter Fixed Base Operations, a subsidiary of Porter Aviation Holdings Inc., slowed cars from entering and leaving a short-term parking lot.

The strikers were not blocking taxis or Porter shuttle buses dropping off or picking up passengers because those activities took place on Toronto Port Authority property, not public land.

The dispute centres around wages and health and safety issues.

The two sides met with a federal mediator on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement for the workers, who are members of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union. They only joined the union in August and have been working on negotiating a first contract since September.

The union said the company has not budged from its offer of a 25-cent increase per hour for 11 employees who earn $12 an hour, and no increase for the remaining members in a higher category who earn $14.50 an hour.

The company countered that it has offered an average wage increase of 6.1 per cent for 2013, which includes general rate increases as well as increases based on years of service.

Porter says a first-year employee can earn $28,000 a year, but a senior employee can earn up to $45,000 a year. It added that its workers receive benefits such as profit sharing and RRSP matching, which are not standard in the industry.

Greg Claxton, who has worked at the airport since 2006, said last spring workers decided to form a union because of high turnover among staff.

“We’re extremely frustrated. We’re not looking for a huge wage increase,” he said, but the union won’t specify what their wage demands are. “It’s our first kick at the can. We wanted something that’s reasonable.”

Porter says that it has trained staff and managers to perform the duties of the striking workers, so passengers will not be impacted by the labour dispute.

The union has questioned whether the replacement workers have received adequate training. In addition to fuelling aircraft for Porter, medical evacuation flights and other charters, the workers also collect fuel from a provider and store and transport fuel in large tankards to aircraft as needed.

The company has countered that all staff have undergone rigorous training, equivalent to that of any new hire.

Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Vanessa Lu