700 ground crew workers on strike at Pearson airport

Travelers are being advised to call ahead to check the status of their flights out of Canada’s busiest airport after roughly 700 ground crew workers went on strike Thursday evening.

The workers represented by Teamsters Local 419 walked out at 9:30 p.m. after rejecting a contract offer from their employer, Swissport.

The strike could cause delays and affect some operations at Toronto Pearson International Airport, but the Greater Toronto Airports Authority has said it has a contingency plan in
place.

The airport posted an update on their website saying, “Swissport is contracted by several airlines and responsible for ground handling. The labour disruption may affect some flights. We apologize for any inconvenience and will provide updates as they become available.”

Swissport workers service 30 of the 74 airlines at Toronto Pearson International Airport including Air Transat, Sunwing, Cathay Pacific, KLM, Lufthansa, Lot Polish, Air France, British Airways, Fly Jamaica, Carribean Etihad, Philippine, Turkish, Egypt Air, Jet, Cubana, Pakistan, China Eastern, Eva, Saudia, Hainan, Azores, Aer Lingus, TAP, Brussels, Alitalia, Austrian, El Al, WOW, and Avianca.

Baggage handlers at Pearson make an average of 14 dollars and 30 cents per hour.

Workers will be picketing at the airport but will not interfere with passengers trying to catch planes.

Picketers outside of Terminal 3, Pearson airport, after they rejected @swissport latest contract offer @morninglive pic.twitter.com/EFBmiwXKtY

— Diana Weeks (@dweeks_CHCHnews) July 28, 2017