Air Canada baggage handlers were staging a wildcat walkout at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport early Friday, causing some flights to be delayed.
The job action began Thursday evening and left hundreds of passengers in limbo after they had to disembark from several flights already on the tarmac and head back to the terminal.
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There was no immediate sign that federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt would intervene in the dispute.
A spokesperson Raitt’s office told The Canadian Press in an email that ”these issues fall with Air Canada internally.”I doubt that's what Air Canada wanted to hear. I also doubt that's what is going to happen. Lisa Raitt will once again roar in, hammer swinging. It's the moral hazard she's created.
Should Air Canada feel the job action constitutes an illegal strike, the spokesperson said, ”they can bring this matter to the Canadian industrial Resolution Board.”
The one thing she won't pummel will be Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu. He'll be happy with his $4.6 million compensation. Oh yeah ... if he hangs around for 9 more days, he gets a $5 million bonus.
And it looks like Raitt herself was the catalyst:
The wildcat strike started after the airline, which has had bitter and continuing labour problems over the past year with its pilots, mechanics, flight attendants and now ground crews, suspended three workers at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Thursday evening, setting off a chain of events.
The workers had apparently applauded sarcastically as Labour Minister Lisa Raitt walked through the airport on Thursday evening.
The employees were suspended for 72 hours. The striking workers said Friday morning that's how long they'll keep up their protest.
H/T Aunty Bertha in comments
Take a look at DAMMIT JANET! If you're a Twitter-mover you can give the
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According to the CBC, Raitt was the cause of the strike.
The CBC's Redmond Shannon reported from the airport that the walkout followed an incident involving Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, who had been applauded sarcastically by some Air Canada workers as she walked through the airport earlier in the evening.
At least three workers were suspended by Air Canada, according to workers demonstrating outside the terminal, prompting the walkout.
I can see a court case here for the workers. The question? Were their constitutional rights to freedom of expression stomped on by the company.
I think so.
allegedly she ordered the RCMP to arrest them for disrespect
What? Their bowing, scraping, and tugging of forelocks wasn't up to Princess Fascist Pony's standards?
Poor dear...
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