Airport employees vote to strike

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This article was published 18/07/2017 (3013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Workers at Richardson International Airport have moved one step closer to a strike.

“Unionized workers employed by the Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA) sent a clear message to their employer last night, voting strongly in favour of taking strike action later this week should mediation talks break down,” the Public Service Alliance’s Union of Canadian Transport Employees said in a statement Tuesday.

“The vote result once again proves our members’ commitment to stop this employer’s practice of contracting out and to achieve a fair collective agreement,” said Marianne Hladun, regional executive vice-president with PSAC.

The union did not release a breakdown of Monday’s strike vote.

There are 150 employees — including duty managers, administrative workers, various tradespeople, IT workers, airfield maintenance and labourers — who could walk off the job at 11:59 p.m. Friday.

The bargaining local staged a demonstration at the airport last week to draw attention to their contract dispute before management and union officials met with a federal mediator.

The union said its priority is to save jobs and stop management from contracting out work, as they say other union jobs at the airport have been contracted out.

Both management and union officials have said the travelling public is unlikely to notice a difference if there is a strike because of agreements to provide essential services.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca