About 25 workers at the Saint John Airport are preparing for possible strike action.
The Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE) says talks have broken off with the employer after months of negotiations.
The workers are responsible for runway and building maintenance, firefighting and administration.
Chris Bussey, Atlantic regional vice-president for the UCTE, said negotiations started in February 2018, but the employer walked away from the table and filed for conciliation.
Bussey said a federal conciliator was appointed to help reach an agreement, but conciliation expired without one.
“We took a strike vote with a very, very high strike mandate from our members,” said Bussey during a phone interview Thursday.
Bussey said the two sides proceeded with mediation and made “some progress,” but the employer walked away again, saying they had to review the union’s proposal further.
He said the two main issues preventing a deal from being reached are pensions and wages.
“If strike action is what’s needed to put pressure on to get that deal, then that’s where we’re going to have to go,” said Bussey.
Talks are ongoing between the two sides regarding essential services, he said.
Bussey said some workers would remain on the job in the event of a strike, but it would not be “business as usual” at the airport.
“Regular maintenance is not going on, it’s not a full complement of staff, so yes, there will be impacts on the airport,” he said.
But union officials still hope a deal can be reached without members walking off the job.
The president and CEO of the Saint John Airport said they remain committed to working together to reach a deal.
“From our perspective, we consider negotiations to be productive and feel that things are moving forward,” said Derrick Stanford in an email.
“I’m hopeful we’ll have an update/announcement early in the new year.”
Follow
