Passenger luggage was not properly screened — and sometimes not screened at all — during a labour dispute last October at Toronto's Pearson International airport, CBC News has learned.

In the four days following Thanksgiving, airport screeners working for the private security company GARDA were on a work-to-rule campaign, hand-searching all carry-on luggage and creating long lines of passengers.

Hand searches of some luggage were abandoned during the October labour dispute.
(CBC)

The screeners say their managers took over to clear the lines, allowing about 250,000 passengers to rush through with minimal or no screening.

In a letter to Transport Canada, several workers quoted their managers asking: "Why are you searching bags?"

Their letter went on to say managers "wanted us to rush through the screening procedures."

An investigation report by Transport Canada says the "security screening process was circumvented … in some cases it was abandoned altogether."

The report says that on Oct. 10, no bags were searched and X-ray images were ignored.

On Oct. 11, "strollers were allowed through the screening point without being searched," the report said.

'Gross violation'

It also said that managers speeding up lines "constituted a gross violation of pertinent legislation" and  "severely compromised the travelling public."

Federal regulations stipulate that at least 25 per cent of carry-on luggage must be searched by hand.

Officials from GARDA declined to comment.

Security expert James Lewis said it was only by chance that a disaster was diverted.

"If terrorists had known that in those three days that their baggage wasn't going to be searched, that would have been bad. But fortunately, it looks like people lucked out and no one happened to be testing the system right at that moment."

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority — the federal organization that oversees airport screening — says in fact all passenger luggage was properly checked during that October work slowdown.

However, she said, she has not seen the Transport Canada inspection report.

Sources say Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon is aware of the situation but is refusing to comment.