Striking Pearson ground crew to vote on new offer Wednesday night: union

By The Canadian Press

Striking ground crew workers at Canada’s busiest airport are voting Wednesday on whether to accept a new contract offer and potentially end a four-week-long work stoppage.

About 700 cabin cleaners, baggage handlers, and other ground crew workers employed by Swissport at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport have been on strike since late July.

Swissport services 30 airlines at the airport, including Air Transat, Sunwing Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Air France, KLM and Lufthansa. Air Canada and WestJet are not serviced by Swissport.

The ground crew strike has not significantly affected passengers, although the airport has been warning travellers that the labour disruption could affect some flights.

Christopher Monette, a spokesman with the union representing the workers, said members will finish voting on the new offer by 10 p.m. tonight.

The terms of the new offer haven’t been provided by either the union or Swissport, but the company has said it is optimistic that workers will accept the deal.

Workers overwhelmingly rejected the company’s last offer in July, triggering the strike.

Their concerns have included pay and benefits cuts, scheduling issues, and what their union calls a lack of respect from Swissport managers.


Related stories:

Striking ground crew at Toronto airport to vote on new offer from employer

Swissport says it’s coping with workers strike at Pearson, union disagrees

Pearson ground crew claims strike has caused significant baggage delays


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