Strike ends at Toronto’s Pearson airport

Aerial view of Toronto Lester B. Pearson International Airport (Photo By Buffyjossdollhouse – Wikipedia, Public Domain)

TORONTO — Striking ground crews at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport have accepted a tentative contract.

Employees at Swissport voted 63 per cent in favour of the new agreement reached earlier this month and will return to work on Wednesday.

The Teamsters, which represents the workers, says the three-year deal contains minor improvements on wages, benefits and scheduling.

The 700 ramp equipment operators, baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, and other ground crew workers went on strike July 27.

The workers had complained about pay and benefits cuts, scheduling issues, and what their union called a lack of respect from Swissport managers.

The company services 30 airlines at the airport, including Air Transat, Sunwing Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Air France, KLM and Lufthansa. Air Canada and WestJet are not serviced by the company.