A large group of airport screening officers grouped outside at the Vancouver International Airport earlier this week, protesting for better working conditions.
Among their demands were higher pay and less stressful operations. The rally, which was formed under the SkyTrain overpass, was created to try and showcase the difficult working conditions that screening officers are beginning to see following the increase in travel to and from Canada.
President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 140, Dave Flowers, wanted to dissipate concerns about the protest by claiming that the officers utilized their free shifts and off days to attend.
Yvr’s screening officers are employed under Allied Universal, a third party. Universal is employed by the government agency Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA). CATSA fired a good amount of officers during the height of the pandemic era, now leaving them with a shortage of labor.
This has led officers to work longer, more stressful shifts. Flowers claims officers get below a living wage. The average screening officer gets paid anywhere between $17-$22 an hour.
“For the travelling public, we know this is frustrating, but it’s not our members who are causing this issue,” Flowers told the media. “Please treat screening officers with respect because they are trying to get everyone through as fast and as safely as possible,”
The quickly forming union is now at the bargaining table with CATSA, Flowers stated. He hopes that the agency can hold third party contractors accountable by fixing the working environment for screening officers.
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