Strike at Montréal-Trudeau and Mirabel airports: Negotiations resume for IAM Local 2301 and Swissport

Strike at Montréal-Trudeau and Mirabel airports:
Negotiations resume for IAM Local 2301 and Swissport

For immediate release
Thursday January 16, 2020

Montreal, QC – The federal mediator has reconvened meetings between IAM Local Lodge 2301’s negotiation committee and representatives of Swissport for the resumption of negotiations this morning at 10 a.m.

“We were anxious to return to negotiate. Swissport has not made any offers to us since the strike started. Now let’s hope that the company will come to us with a serious and fair offer,” said Michel Richer, spokesperson for the Local 2301 bargaining committee Grand Lodge Representative with IAM Canada.

The return to the negotiating table takes place the day after a large rally in support of the striking workers outside the management offices of Swissport. At the rally, labour leaders and political representatives demanded that Swissport and the Trudeau government take responsibility for the current situation and quickly act to resolve it.

On strike since December 31, 2019, the IAM members are demanding, in particular, better wages and an improvement in their group insurance coverage – all related to the widely-prevalent, and widely abused practice of Contract-Flipping

Workers at Swissport Canada Inc., members of IAM Local 2301, are aircraft supply workers, dispatchers, fuel storage maintenance workers and mechanics. Their collective agreement expired in August 2019 and they have been trying to reach an agreement with their employer since 23 May, 2019.

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For more information:
Guillaume Valois, Public Relations and Communications, 514-966-0915
Frank Saptel, IAM Canada Communications Representative, 416-579-0481