Pearson ground crew workers strike tentative deal with Swissport after months of delays
Hundreds of unionized workers first walked off job in July
The union representing some 700 ground crew workers has reached a tentative deal with Swissport Canada, meaning baggage handlers, cabin cleaners and other ground staff will be ending their work stoppage, which has gone on for 10 weeks.
CBC Toronto has learned that Teamsters Local 419 members agreed to the tentative deal with Swissport yesterday after overwhelmingly rejecting previous offers.
"Late yesterday we reached a tentative deal that will be taken to the membership for a vote by Sunday," confirmed Levi Davis, one of the negotiators and a shop steward for Teamsters Local 419 who works as a baggage handler for Swissport.
The decision comes before air traffic ramps up during the winter holiday travel season at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Swissport services 30 of Pearson's 74 airlines, including Sunwing, Air Transat, Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa.
Hundreds of unionized workers first walked off the job in July after its members overwhelmingly rejected the company's last offer. Their concerns included pay and benefit cuts, scheduling issues and what their union called a lack of respect from Swissport managers.
The labour disruption created months of headaches for travellers who saw flight delays created by mounting baggage handling backlog at the country's busiest airport.
The terms of the new offer have not yet been provided by either the union or Swissport.
With files from Mary Wiens