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11 workers who transport jet fuel to Vancouver airport could strike

The union says the newly organized workers are seeking pay increases, pension benefits and severance packages in their first collective agreement. They're responsible for one of the ways YVR gets its fuel.

Airport authority says airlines receive fuel through multiple channels and don't expect major impact

Tessa Vikander · CBC News ·
A row of people, in silhouette, wait at an airport departure lounge with an Air Canada plane visible in the background.
The supply of jet fuel to YVR could be affected if workers at ILWU Local 502 begin striking on Tuesday. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

A group of workers who handle jet fuel used at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) could go on strike as early as Tuesday.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 502 says it served a strike notice on Friday to the workers' employer, SGS Canada. 

Rob Ashton, president of ILWU Canada, said the 11 newly organized workers are seeking pay increases, pension benefits and severance packages as part of their first collective agreement. 

The workers unload fuel from ships before transporting it to the airport. According to Ashton, this is one of several ways that YVR gets fuel. 

A man with a black hat, glasses and grey beard speaks into a microphone on a beach along Vancouver's downtown waterfront.
Rob Ashton, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, is seen speaking in June 2023. He said employers need to offer better wages to airport workers. (Georgie Smyth/CBC)

He said the workers are paid just above the living wage in Vancouver, which is about $27 per hour. 

"A lot of these workers have to work two jobs, and when you have an employer that works in international shipping, they should be paying a lot more than the living wage," Ashton said.

The union has been negotiating with SGS Canada since June and has been in talks with a federal mediator since September, but Ashton said things broke off near the end of last month. 

"The employer up and walked away from the table, went back to Toronto, and the union's been asking them through the conciliator to come back to the table to get a deal done," he said.

"If they don't come out of Toronto to get this deal done, then if something happens and if the fuel stops flowing to YVR, it's on their shoulders because we're doing everything that we can to get this done."

A spokesperson for the Vancouver Airport Authority said in a statement that airlines oversee the delivery of jet fuel through various means — including by truck, pipeline and rail — and that they are in touch with carriers over the proposed strike.

"We are in close communication with the air carriers' representative that oversees their fuel delivery operations, FSM, who have informed us they do not anticipate an impact to operations due to their overall jet fuel supply chain capacity."

CBC News reached out to SGS Canada for comment but did not immediately hear back.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tessa Vikander

Reporter

Tessa Vikander is a CBC News reporter covering local and national news. Previously she reported for Toronto Star, Reuters, IndigiNews and CTV News. You can contact her at [email protected].

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