Security screeners at Saint John airport told to pack up their bags
SAINT JOHN - Eight security screeners at the Saint John Airport have been told they will be laid off come the middle of September, while eight others will have their full-time hours cut to part time.
Lawrence McKay, area co-ordinator of the United Steelworkers Union representing about 1,000 security workers in Atlantic Canada, said workers were informed last week that cuts were coming.
Major delays will result from the cutbacks, he said.
"We don't understand how they expect our screeners to get people through security and follow the procedures they have to follow and do their job with that many less people," McKay said.
There are about 35 airport security workers in Saint John. About 80 people will be affected across the region.
"Up to 40 per cent of our members will be affected by these cutbacks," McKay said. "The reason given to us is that CATSA (Canadian Air Transport Security Authority) is cutting allotted hours, which in turn will reduce the workforce.
"These job cuts defy logic. They disregard the well-documented need for improvements - not cutbacks - in airport security screening.
"If there are cuts, we fear the security screening situation can only get worse.
"It flies in the face of everything we've heard about in the security industry since Sept. 11."
CATSA spokesman Mathieu Larocque said purchased screening hours are dependent on flight schedules and passenger forecasts.
"As we arrive close to a slower season in the fall, we adjust the hours that we purchase and as we get closer to peak, we adjust again. This is throughout Canada, throughout the year."
He said the decision to lay off workers is one made by Shannahan's Investigations and Security Ltd., based in St. John's, which is the company that holds the CATSA contract in Atlantic Canada.
"We have no say in how they distribute those hours with their employees. It's a continuous adjustment we make. It's up to the contractors to manage these adjustments in the hours that we purchase."
McKay, who's been in the industry for about a decade, said these are the first layoffs of screeners that he's experienced.
News of the layoffs come on the heels of a report from the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority acknowledging there is a problem with recruiting and retaining screeners and security workers, leading to lengthy delays in obtaining security clearances, he said.
"In addition to the CATSA findings, the recent report of the federal inquiry into the Air India bombing tragedy also concluded there is a chronic problem with security delays and morale among airport security workers," McKay said.
Moncton airport is one of the hardest hit, he said, with all part-time staff facing layoffs and some full time workers being moved back to part-time hours, even though no flights have been lost.
The expected recall date for the workers is next April, McKay said, which is odd because flights to southern destinations usually start in January or the first of February.
"They're usually busy during that period because they have a lot of extra flights," he said.
The United Steelworkers represents hundreds of airport screeners and security employees in the Atlantic provinces and 25,000 security industry workers across the country.
