IAM - IAM 2797 - Servisair Lockout
On April 1st, 2009, Servisair, an outsourced ground handling company that handles many airlines, including, but not limited to, Westjet, Sunwing, Air Transat, Canjet, Skyservice, Miami Air and Porter, locked out it employees at Halifax Robert L. Stanfield International Airport. This page will inform members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 2797 (IAM) of our day to day plans to respond to the lockout.
Those of you who are not members of IAM Local 2797 may wish to read this primer to learn how we got to where are today.
The membership voted 65% in favour of accepting the company's offer. So we are going back to work and negotiating a new contract one year from May 2009 (May 2010).
Big thank you to everyone who gave their support to their union brothers and sisters.
The company is rattled. They started calling people at home making threats they cannot carry out to try and get probationary employees to cross the line. This means they are desperate.
Peter Stoffer, the Member of Parliament for Sackville--Eastern Shore and former employee at Halifax Robert L. Stanfield International Airport visited our information picket line on April 9th, 2009. Peter gave a great speech and encourage us while expressing his support. He also promised to contact other members of parliament from the areas near the airport, and the ministers of transportation and labour in order to put political pressure on Servisair.
Peter Stoffer and the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour sent out press releases expressing their concerns on our behalf. Positive newspaper and radio coverage was the result for us.
We will be allowed to apply for Employment Insurance (EI). See Record of Employment under the the Things to Know section of this page for more details.
One member reported that his bank had no problems helping him with his mortgage during the time of the lockout. So know it is worth the time to try and see if your creditors can work with you during this time.
The support section of this page is way behind. So far the amount of support is far surpassing the amount of time available to update the section. Apologies for the lack of proper updates, but this is in a way a good sign.
Please hang in there. Wednesday is a while away and we do not know if they are going to be serious about negotiations. After all these are the same people who keep telling the media that they are were willing to meet with us during their time of shunning us. Also any proposals will have to be ratified. So it will be a bit of time yet before we can go back to work. Hang in there. Contact your union representatives if you need help are having troubles keeping it together at home, with your creditors, having other troubles, etc. We need everyone to keep hanging on.
Picketing is suspended to 2010 at least, hopefully forever, most likely 2010. Please see voting results.
Here we will be posting little, and some big, things we need. Please make contact if you can help with any of them.
Be sure to tell us your needs when you need assistance.
Due to the fact that the company made an illegal offer by telling our mediator that they were going to freeze salaries below minimum wage and that some rule changes were made to the Employment Insurance (EI) system, we will be allowed to apply for EI. This does not mean you will be guaranteed to get it, but there is a good chance you will, so apply if you feel you may need it.
The company advertised our jobs in The Chronicle Herald Newspaper. Our very helpful ally in this, Peter Stoffer called the union to advise us that he saw the ad. He also wanted us to know that he has talked to the paper, the company and the labour board. Do not panic, this will not stand. See the Prohibition relating to replacement workers section of Part I of the Canada Labour Code. It is § 94, subsection (2.1).
When the private security guards hired by the company follow you around outside the airport terminal building, including the airport owned parking lots, call the police. This includes them sitting around video taping you, looking into your car windows, etc. One of our members (thanks Pat) already spoken to some RCMP officers and we were given this advice. If it is happening within the airport properties, such as parking lots you can also call SOC at 873-1234.
Please tell a union rep about any threats made to you by the company. Especially important is to keep messages, records, papers on the subject.
If the company threatens to fire you, ignore them. This very much includes probationary employees. Unfair Labour Practices complaints are only one legal tool we can use against the company for you. Regardless, we will simply not accept it. The IAM has been around for 120 years, lockouts and strikes are something we have experience with and rehiring people who were fired solely to bully the union is an absolute condition of the workers return and has been for some time. We will fight for everyone.
It is a cliche for large companies in these situations to offer promises of great things once the lockout is over if you do their bidding now. Not delivering on the promise is part of the cliche. If offered ask yourself if you trust the company that has been behaving as it has during this time.
it would be great if members provided their email address to improve communications. If you are willing to do so, send us your email and in the message tell us who you are. Thank you.
Some more contacts
The support received from the rest of the airport has been tremendous. The entire airport community has been helping us out behind the scenes and expressing their support to us in public. Some of the behind the scenes support should not be divulged in such a public way, so we will inform everyone of that type of of support verbally.
This support is not limited to just our airport. IAM brothers and sisters and other union siblings working for Servisair have expressed their support. A very big thank you must go out to Frank Nardone from who is from YYZ for declining to negotiate with Servisair until our lockout is over.
A pilot who said he was a member of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) bought some of us working the information picket lines coffee. We did not get his name, but he does have our gratitude. Thanks to ALAP.
The Nova Scotia Federation of Labour sent out a press release supporting us.
The Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council made a donation to support us and introduced your union representatives to representatives from several other unions to organize future support.
IAM members in Vancouver stopped working as acting supervisors. Many thanks to our brothers and sister out there and other stations who did the same.
As one example of many acts of kindness, the unionized members of the the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) provided us with a gift of a hundred dollar Tim Horton's gift certificate. Additionally, they set-up a donations box for us. They are also helping in behind the scenes ways.
On day two of lockout, the electricians expressed their support with a full work stoppage on their part. The following day all the other construction trades did the same.
Special thanks to Boyd Richardson, General Chairperson for Central Canada who came down and provided allot of support for the effort. Boyd's local in Toronto paid for breakfast for everyone on the morning of April 4th. Boyd also just had a habit of asking what was needed and getting it for us a few hours latter. Sometimes he would point out what we needed.
Air Canada employees have come by on their day off to information picket with us and show support on multiple occasions. IAM Local 1763 has done much to support us, including a donation. Thank you to them.
Passengers who said they were part of the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union (NSGEU) and former Air Canada employees expressed support and even gave us cash to help out. Other passengers who did not identify themselves have given us small amounts of cash donations.
One passenger said she had not heard of our lockout but was going to spread the word as she was an executive with the NSGEU. She had to catch her flight so the conversation was very quick. Not confirmed, but she may have been named Martha. Apologies if that is the wrong name, and regardless, thanks.
Former Servisair ramp supervisor Matt Rushton came by on April 2nd to express his support. Matt latter gave us a $50.00 Tim Horton's gift certificate. Matt now works for Strategic Aviation Services who are lucky to have him..
Transport Canada has agreed to not let Servisair escape the rules because they are big and rich and are checking their licences as well as enforcing Restricted Area Identification Card (RAIC) pass rules. The Commissionaires are also doing their part in enforcing these rules. We are also getting behind the scenes help form The Commissionaires.
The RCMP officers working in their airport have verbally expressed their good wishes to us. Also they have told us to call them if the private security hired by the company harass us any further. Officer Butler was kind enough to buy us some coffee.
Tour operator Jackie Randle who works for Canadian Affair and other tour companies gave us a $20.00 Tim Horton's gift certificate.
PLH called to express their support, and both they and Cara workers are doing things behind the scenes to assist. Air Canada workers are contributing in subtle and not so subtle ways behind the scenes as well.
Members of Local Lodge 2797 who work in the Department of National Defence came by on their day off to assist with our information picket lines.
In another example of external support, Penny Fawcett of the Communication Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) phoned us to express support and said that she would try to get us some extra bodies for one of our information pickets. Wow. This is the union that represents Aliant workers, so they know what it is like to be locked out.
Thanks to everyone who has come out, and to those who could not but genuinely wished they could, thanks as well for thinking of us. There will be ups and downs, but the important thing is to stick together as much as possible. Thank you everyone.