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Air Canada Strike: Pearson Airport Workers Ordered Back On Job After Wildcat Walkout

Wildcat Strike Pearson Airport Baggage Handlers

First Posted: 03/22/2012 11:26 pm Updated: 03/23/2012 11:07 am

TORONTO -- Union officials say a wildcat strike by Air Canada ground workers that started in Toronto and spread to other airports is over.

Union spokesman Bill Trbovich says three workers were suspended after Labour Minister Lisa Raitt was heckled while walking through the airport late Thursday.

Trbovich says when word of the suspensions spread their colleagues staged an illegal walkout, prompting the firing of 37 workers.

The ground workers returned to their posts this morning after an arbitrator told them that everyone would be reinstated and there would be no punishment.

Dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed as a result of the wildcat, which Raitt called illegal as she warned that law enforcement had been notified.

They workers say they're angry that Raitt brought in back-to-work legislation and sent their contract dispute with the airline to arbitration.

The walkout that started last night left 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.

Wildcat Strike
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A man spits onto the face of an Air Canada baggage handler during a a wildcat walkout at Toronto's Pearson International Airport early Friday March 23, causing some flights to be delayed. The job action began Thursday evening and left hundreds of passengers in limbo after they had to disembark from several flights already on the tarmac and head back to the terminal. Shortly after the man was removed from the area by police.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Victor Biro
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TORONTO - The heckling of Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt by frustrated Air Canada workers snowballed into a wildcat strike that plunged Canada's busiest airport into travel chaos on Friday.Three g...
TORONTO - The heckling of Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt by frustrated Air Canada workers snowballed into a wildcat strike that plunged Canada's busiest airport into travel chaos on Friday.Three g...
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HarleyOpenRoad
2185 Fans
05:02 PM on 03/24/2012
Westjet employees are happy, well-paid, non-union, and each own a portion of the company.

Air Canada employees are unhappy, unionized, over-paid, and do not own any part of the company.

Guess which one is consistently profitable?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Capital Ottawa
45 Fans
02:36 PM on 03/25/2012
Air Canada has to maintain routes which are unprofitable, WestJet competes only for the popular city to city routes. They can be more competitive on price due to lower overhead and not having to maintain routes on which they would lose money. Part of the government's AC bailout came with the condition that they were to remain a "National" airline and serve all communities. It has little to do Unions. There are many companies which are unionised, profitable and do not have the labour unrest which plagues Air Canada. It's time that we look at how Air Canada is managed and see if there are improvements to be made. Most of Air Canada's unions have been in a strike position over the past year or so, there must be more to it than a simple bunch of workers wanting more.
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HarleyOpenRoad
2185 Fans
09:43 PM on 03/25/2012
If AC lost $500 million dollars last year, how can unions expect a raise in salaries and benefits?
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poster boy
22 Fans
11:39 AM on 03/24/2012
The Harper Boot keeps throwing Canadians under the Airbus.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
basinr
The truth and nothing but the truth
57 Fans
 
07:38 AM on 03/24/2012
They should train monkies to baggage handle and the airline wouldn't have this labour problem !
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poster boy
22 Fans
11:40 AM on 03/24/2012
Why not? It seem to be working in Parliament.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
basinr
The truth and nothing but the truth
57 Fans
 
07:20 AM on 03/24/2012
Lock the doors at Air Canada,lay them all off and make West Jet and Porter our National carriers !!!
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albertarick
These are questions for wise men with skinny arms
307 Fans
11:49 AM on 03/24/2012
Thats the answer. More government support for private corporations. That way you'll have a new corporate failure to complain about and a big union to blaim in a few years.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
gravescanada
669 Fans
 
07:01 AM on 03/24/2012
Read the comments. So sad that some Canadians will throw their fellow citizens under the bus just to support the Harper Government. The workers at Air Canada are our neighbors, or friends our brother and our sisters. How would any of you feel if you had to take pay cuts when the business you work for is struggling only to find out the cuts are permanent when the business is back on its feet? Harper Government, Dirty Deals done dirt cheap.
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Spanky McFarlane
ILLEGITIMUS NON CARBORUNDUM.
179 Fans
11:57 PM on 03/23/2012
I hope the Air Canada CEO is enjoying his $5 Million dollar bonus, backed by the Harper Government just aqs much as the employees are enjoying their wage cuts ...backed up with the strong arm tactics of the same Government.

Anywonder people are pizzzed?
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chuck nathaniel
Your micro-bio is pending approval
212 Fans
11:59 PM on 03/23/2012
How much would that 5 million be spread out over all the union members? an extra dollar a day?
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CharlesBrown008
91 Fans
12:30 AM on 03/24/2012
You are probably messing with us and don't possess bagger intelligence, but in case you do, here is the explanation:

If AC has no money to give its employees wage increases, then they shouldn't have money to give the CEO $5 mil bonus. The fact that the CEO didn't turn down the $5 mil indicate that AC has money, lots of money, no amount is publicly known, but probably some large multiple of $5 mil. Why should a CEO turn down a bonus if there is money right?
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albertarick
These are questions for wise men with skinny arms
307 Fans
11:52 AM on 03/24/2012
Not really the point. If a corporation is losing money, how is a bonus justifiable? If it is making money why should the front line workers not share in the profits. We are talking about workers who have not seen real increases for decades.
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chuck nathaniel
Your micro-bio is pending approval
212 Fans
11:40 PM on 03/23/2012
Maybe I'm missing something, but how is stranding customers endearing your side to the public?
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CharlesBrown008
91 Fans
12:38 AM on 03/24/2012
It depends on who is doing the stranding. AC is the service provider directly responsible to the customers. The employees are not. It is the obligation of AC to keep services running at all time, and to restore services as soon as possible if disrupted. AC is stranding the customers.
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chuck nathaniel
Your micro-bio is pending approval
212 Fans
08:21 PM on 03/24/2012
You REALLY think the public sees it that way? Especially when it was the WORKERS who literally walked out on passengers sitting on the runway? And it was AC who got them back to work.

I'd say, in the public eye, that makes the workers look foolish and selfish.
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CharlesBrown008
91 Fans
08:50 PM on 03/23/2012
The legislative hammer isn't as effective in action as it is on paper. Forcing workers back to work hostile is NOT the same as getting workers back to work satisfied. Workers are not drones. There may be resentment. There may be quality and reliability issues. There may be safety issues. I wouldn't fly with AC until workers cool down.
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buylow2
12 Fans
08:05 PM on 03/23/2012
After the unions and greedy employees of Air Canada bankrupt the company AGAIN and walk away from $7 BILLION in net debt and BILLIONS in pension shortfalls, each employee should be black listed to ensure they never work for Air Can again - ever. WJA won't take them. They might reflect back and wonder why the union bosses still have jobs and are living like fat cats... It's 2012!
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smileaway03
11 Fans
09:54 PM on 03/23/2012
You call them greedy without mentioning a dollar amount or any issue currently sitting on the bargaining table.

Rule 1 on how to at least try to make yourself seem informed of the issue at hand - use facts.

The head bosses of Air Canada are the 1%. Multi-million dollar salaries with multi-million dollar bonuses, paid out while the front line staff all took pay cuts to keep the company afloat during the last negotiations. The head bosses are not unionized, but for some reason it is the union and what I am guessing as the union members who are the 'greedy employees'???

Rule 2 on how to at least try to make yourself seem informed on the issue at hand - use a dictionary if you are unsure of what a word means.
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HarleyOpenRoad
2185 Fans
06:54 PM on 03/23/2012
The unions know full well without the courts ordering them back to work, the airline would be bankrupt within a few weeks.

Too bad the govt didn't stay out of it, maybe that wretched airline would finally be gone forever,
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smileaway03
11 Fans
09:58 PM on 03/23/2012
Did you sleep through the Occupy Movement?? Clearly. The CANADIAN (as i refuse to say Harper) Government is sleeping with the head bosses of Air Canada. Air Canada is way to beneficial for the federal government and they will not let it go bankrupt.
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HarleyOpenRoad
2185 Fans
11:36 PM on 03/23/2012
Yes, now the very word "occupy" puts me to sleep.

Godspeed, Westjet, hope you rule the Canadian skies as soon as possible.
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freeSpeakr
I stand on the shoulders of giants
570 Fans
06:17 PM on 03/23/2012
The purpose of unions is to protect workers from the cut-and-thrust of predatory capitalism. By protecting workers' rights, a gov't guarantees greater social stability and an more stable economy. A more stable economy grows more steadily and a happier populus leads to a better standard of living. Harper's straussian beliefs (especially the "Noble Lie" part) seeks to destabilize the populus to create disorder, weakness, desperation, fear and greed. It's our choice though. It's the choice of the people. If we want change we're going to have to get up off our collective hemorrhoid pillows and go VOTE. That's all we have to do. That and investigate the CPC's vote suppression crimes of the last election.
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freeSpeakr
I stand on the shoulders of giants
570 Fans
06:08 PM on 03/23/2012
Know your Harper:

http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2005/11/29/HarperBush/ http://goo.gl/Yy9w

http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/the-man-behind-stephen-harper-tom-flanagan/

http://soundcloud.com/post-hypnotic-press/lawrence-martin-harperland-the-politics-of-control-ready-by-michael-puttonen
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albertarick
These are questions for wise men with skinny arms
307 Fans
12:18 PM on 03/24/2012
Isn't he a peach.
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freeSpeakr
I stand on the shoulders of giants
570 Fans
12:48 PM on 03/24/2012
yes. very fuzzy and getting moldier by the day.
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Add In Canadia
Egotism is a weakness
413 Fans
05:51 PM on 03/23/2012
Just let other airlines take over the Air Canada flights already. Then the workers can strike all they want and bring AC back into bankruptcy and hopefully that will be the last we hear about that company.
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mxfw9999
207 Fans
05:45 PM on 03/23/2012
Wild cat strike why bring them back at all put them on the street and hire new workers
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Nescobar
The CPC.....it's a small mind after all
50 Fans
06:19 PM on 03/23/2012
Because it is still a democracy......for now anyways.
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CharlesBrown008
91 Fans
08:33 PM on 03/23/2012
If you can get enough customers willing to fly AC with new workers then they would. Its probably safe enough.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dennis Schmunk
3831 Fans
03:38 PM on 03/23/2012
I quit Air Canada when they got bailed out by the federal government after they decided to favor the Montreal based airline over Calgary based Canadian Pacific. Air Canada has had the backing of the federal government ever since. I dislike a crooked deck in business.

Now I mostly fly Alaska for long trips and Westjet for trips under 8 hours.

I really miss Ward Air to be honest.
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