Tuesday May 9, 2006
For Immediate Release
Toronto, ON – After a long hard fought campaign, 372 Air Canada ATS (Administrative and Technical Support) employees are the newest members of IAM District Lodge 140. The Machinists were victorious in a vote conducted by the Canada Labour Relations Board on April 7, 2006.
The vote results ended almost six years of efforts by Air Canada to have the ATS workers declared non-union following its merger with Canadian Airlines International in 2000. Air Canada felt that with the merger, the number of its non-union ATS workers were in a clear majority and the Canadian ATS workers, represented by the IAM, should be absorbed as non-union. Since the merger, the IAM continually fought off Air Canada’s efforts to decertify eventually leading to the authorized vote by the CLRB to settle the issue. “Since the merger was completed, the non-union workers were constantly targeted for layoffs or staff reductions,” said President and Directing General Chairperson of IAM District Lodge 140 Jim Coller. “Even though the non-union ATS workers were still in the majority, I think many of them realized they had a better future as members of the IAM and the vote results reflected this.”
