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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sanitation workers cleaning Vancouver International Airport have ratified a new collective agreement. The strike ended at the airport on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
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Strike action was scheduled to escalate today, but SEIU Local 2 suspended those actions and was quickly able to organize a vote to certify the 233 janitors working at Alpine Building Maintenance (Alpine).
The workers were starting to earn $25 an hour, plus a night shift bonus and retirement security.
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“We are happy because it will not be long before we reach the $25 we were looking for, and the bonuses will help a lot of us as well,” said Gautam Luthra, one of the cleaners. “No one ever wants to go on strike, but sometimes you just have to take a stand.”
Each janitor’s pay will be $25 an hour or higher in 2025. There will be a $1.29 increase in April to bring the pay to $24.55 an hour. A second wage increase in October will raise wages to $25. There will be more raises in 2026. In addition to the raises, there is also excellent pay for leading hands and overnight hours. The cleaning contractor also committed to providing a living wage over the two-year contract period. Their medical benefits package remains intact.
While there is relief that the strike has ended, the big demand that the cleaners did not win was pension security. It will be prioritized in the next round of bargaining and workers say they look forward to returning to the bargaining table in two years where they will continue to fight for it and other improvements.
“We didn’t win everything we wanted, but we think it’s a good deal and this experience has brought us closer together,” said Varinder Singh, one of the night workers. “We know that our job here is not over yet. Our grandparents should not continue to do well into their later years just because they cannot retire. We need to do better, and we will fight for it next time.”
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Back to work
The two parties agreed on a return to work protocol.
Alpine will recall all striking employees to their first regular shift following today’s ratification vote, with no loss of seniority and/or service due to their absence during the strike.
Some workers may return early this afternoon.
The Employer has agreed that there will be no discipline, termination, discrimination, intimidation, interference, restraint, coercion, accusation, or retaliatory action of any kind against union members for their participation in the strike and strike-related activities.
The union has agreed to publicly rescind any notification of action actions and any escalated activities.
background
The cleaners started working last Thursday evening. Workers and their supporters have been gathering at the “authorized demonstration area” designated by YVR, Chester Johnson Park, since Friday morning. That changed on Christmas Eve, as sanitation workers planned to exercise their right to establish legal picket lines in unmarked areas of the airport and ask airport workers who have the legal right to respect the picket lines not to cross.
The cleaners’ contract expired at the end of September. They clean almost the entire airport including terminals, bathrooms, taxiways, external facilities and airport operations on both sides of security checkpoints.
For more information visit www.YVRjanitorStrike.ca
SEIU Local 2 represents 20,000 workers in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We are proud members of the largest, fastest growing and most dynamic association in North America.
Media Contact:
Tina Oh
(902) 955-9966
toh@seiulocal2.ca
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