250 new members say “Long Live the IAM”
The IAM Canadian Territory is pleased to announce that 250 more members have joined the union at Vancouver International Airport.
The workers, from Alliance Ground International (AGI), who perform duties including baggage, ramp and towing, are finally members of the IAM after a vicious anti-union campaign undertaken by the company.
“The company fired all of the Inside Committee members and used every trick in the book to try and weaken the resolve of the workers – BUT THEY FAILED,” said Sam Jabbar, GLR assigned to Organising and the Lead Organiser of the months-long campaign.
The biggest obstacle was the language barrier as roughly 95% of all the workers speak Punjabi as their first language. This enabled Jabbar, who is Punjabi-speaking, to communicate directly with the workers in their native language. The biggest obstacle also turned out to be our greatest asset.
IAM Canada would like to thank the crucial support of IAM Local 764 President, Chris Hiscock, Secretary-Treasurer Dave Marshall and Organisers Andrew King, Jerry Sanghera and Seann Geyser, all from Local 764.
The IAM would especially like to thank Gagandeep Sohi and Parvinder Singh for all their help during the campaign.
David Chartrand, GVP for IAM Canada said, “This is an excellent example of what successes we can achieve when we work together.”
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Sam Jabbar, GLR
