St. John’s Swissport IAM members ratify new contract

Retroactive payments back to September part of deal: Union

Swissport workers at the St. John’s, N.L., airport ratified a new deal June 20 with an 84 per cent acceptance, said the union

The group of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) members was the last of a Canada-wide bargaining effort by Swissport that began in Vancouver and worked its way east resulting in negotiations beginning several months after the expiration date of the old agreement of Aug. 31, 2016, according to the union.

With the ratification, members will receive retroactive payments for all hours worked including overtime, stat holidays and premiums back to Sept. 1, 2016. They will receive wage increases for the remainder of the new agreement beginning Sept. 1, 2017. The lead hand premium provides an additional $3 per hour, said the IAM.

“In between, we rejected lump-sum payments in lieu of retro pay and refused wage offers that were insulting,” said Ken Russell, IAM transportation district lodge 140 general chairperson.

“These members have experienced the cutthroat effects of their employer being bought and sold from Hudson General to Globe Ground North America to Penauille Servisair to Servisair and now Swissport,” said Russell. 

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