11 workers who transport jet fuel to Vancouver airport could strike

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. 

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.