—ON THE PICKET LINE—

Toronto airport strikers win
solidarity in contract fight

TORONTO — Unionists and other supporters joined hundreds of airport strikers in a spirited protest at Pearson airport here Sept. 3, shutting down traffic between Terminals 1 and 3 for several hours. The strikers, members of Teamsters Local 419 at Swissport, marched and danced between the two terminals, chanting, “Respect, benefits, wages; if can’t have it, shut it down!”

The strike began July 27 after workers rejected a contract that included a three-year wage freeze, cuts in benefits, and the company asserting their prerogative to arbitrarily change work schedules with little notice.

“It’s gone beyond issues of respect, wages, scheduling and benefits,” striker Rajkumar Singh told the Militant on the picket line Sept. 2. “We are the only barrier standing between corporate greed and workers’ rights. If we fall, they’re going to move on to their next target.”

Among unionists participating in the protest were members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, International Association of Machinists, Teamsters and Unifor. The rally took aim at the Greater Toronto Airports Authority for allowing Swissport to use agency workers as strikebreakers. Daily picketing continues at employee parking lots.

— Susan Berman