Saskatoon Airport is on strike

Edmonton and Regina Airports set up information picket lines

Settlement reached at Charlottetown Airport

OTTAWA - Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members at Saskatoon Airport launched a legal strike Friday, July 14, at 5:00 a.m., while members at Edmonton airport set up information picket lines in support of their own bargaining demands and their brothers and sisters who are on strike in Saskatoon. Members at Regina Airport will set up information pickets Saturday and Sunday. Both Edmonton and Regina airports' workers could join their Saskatoon colleagues in a full strike as early as next week.

"In the summer of 2000, airport negotiations have become particularly difficult, because of the unprecedented and unconscionable activities of the Canadian Airports Council. During the negotiations between the PSAC and the local airport authorities in both Charlottetown and Saskatoon, the Canadian Airports Council has tried to undermine the job security of our members," said PSAC National Executive Vice-President John Gordon. "The Canadian Airports Council will not succeed. When PSAC members in Charlottetown took to the picket line on July 13, local management quickly came to its senses, and agreed to a contract that provides full job security, protection against contracting-out, and no reduction in hours of work."

Richard Jasieniuk, President of Local 40404 of the PSAC’s Union of Canadian Transportation Employees at Saskatoon Airport said "When the Authority took over control of this airport in January 1999, they told us that they were going to be an employer of choice. I never expected that an "employer of choice" would force their employees to strike to obtain a fair collective agreement, or renege on agreed job security language as it is currently doing. Many other airport authorities have achieved agreements that include job security and decent wage increases without having to take strike action, I have to ask myself, why us?" adds Jasieniuk.

In the last 12 months the Saskatoon Airport Authority Board gave their managers wage increases of at least 21 per cent. The only wage proposal tabled by the Saskatoon Airport Authority to date was a 2.25 per cent wage increase in the first year.

In contrast, the collective agreement negotiated by the PSAC and the Charlottetown local airport authority included a market adjustment that increased all rates of pay, a significant signing bonus, and economic increases above the current inflation rate for four years.

"The Saskatoon Airport Authority has set new standards for the mean-spirited manner in which they are treating their employees," says Blaine Pilatzke, Regional Strike Coordinator for the PSAC. "The disdain this employer is showing for its employees has even surpassed what we would normally expect from more arrogant employers.

The PSAC represents 2,000 workers at most Canadian airports. These workers are responsible for airport maintenance, fire-fighting, as well as administrative duties. The majority of Canadian airports have been privatized and are operated by local authorities.

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For information:

Blaine Pilatzke, Regional Representative - Prairies, PSAC, (306) 539-8375 or 244-3033

Pierre Lebel, Communications Officer, PSAC, (613) 560-5482

Lois Ross, Coordinator, Communications, PSAC, (613) 560-4280

43-140700