Toronto airline food workers approve deal with Gate Gourmet, return to work
Gate Gourmet workers have been on strike since April 17, protesting wages and working conditions. Union members approved a tentative agreement Monday night.
There will be one less reason to worry about flight delays on Tuesday.
The hundreds of workers responsible for cooking, packing and delivering in-flight food have reached an agreement with their employers, Gate Gourmet said Monday morning, officially ending a weeks-long strike.
“We look forward to returning to regular operations at Pearson Airport as soon as possible with our valued employees,” a spokesperson for Gate Gourmet told the Star on Tuesday morning.
“After months of bargaining and almost two weeks on the picket line, we are pleased to announce a tentative agreement with Gate Gourmet,” said Martin Cerqua, president, Teamsters Local Union 647, on Monday morning, when a tentative agreement was reached.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
“I would like to thank our members for their incredible courage and solidarity, and salute everyone who supported us throughout this process,” Cerqua added.
Gate Gourmet workers voted Monday evening to ratify the agreement. Neither Gate Gourmet nor Teamsters revealed the details of the agreement.
Workers were offered a final deal that met their “desires regarding wages, benefits, and working conditions at the unit — including a 12 per cent pay raise over three years,” a spokesperson for Gate Gourmet said.
Both parties blamed the other for walking away from the negotiating table.
“This strike will go on for as long as it takes,” Martin Cerqua, lead union negotiator and president of the Teamsters Local Union 647 representing the workers, told the Star at the beginning of the strike. “We are ready to return as soon as the company has something new to offer.”
Of the 80 per cent of workers that voted on the final offer, nearly all rejected the deal on the table in favour of striking.
In a written statement on April 23, a Gate Gourmet spokesperson warned that the union was jeopardizing contracts with Air Canada, WestJet and other airlines.
In a statement to the Star amidst the strike, the company said one of its goals was to “make clear to the union the consequences of a strike that lasts any longer than it already has.
“Our airline customers want the service they’ve contracted for,” it said. “A prolonged strike threatens our work at Toronto-Pearson.”
Air Canada acknowledged that some long-haul flights were significantly delayed during the strike due to the work stoppage, but said they numbered “very few” relative to overall flight volume.
The union’s main issues are improved wages and safety. Workers at Gate Gourmet earn, on average, earn between $17.69 and $20 an hour, Cerqua said, which is about $3 to $6 below standard wages for the industry. It’s also under what is considered a living wage of $25.05 an hour in the GTA, according to a report by The Ontario Living Wage Network published in November.
Gate Gourmet workers told the Star they felt pressured to take on an increased workload after the workforce shrank by nearly 200 workers over the duration of the pandemic, which, they say, led to several injuries of hi-lift truck drivers being injured over the past three months.
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