SEIU Local 2: YVR janitors to escalate pickets at airport tomorrow

/EIN News/ -- VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The janitors who clean Vancouver’s International Airport will be escalating their job action tomorrow, setting up picket lines at various parts of the airport.

The cleaners are members of SEIU Local 2, and employees of Alpine Building Maintenance. Their job action began on Thursday evening, and they have been gathering at YVR’s designated “Authorized Demonstration Area,” Chester Johnson Park, since Friday morning. That will change tomorrow morning.

The cleaners plan to exercise their right to set up lawful picket lines at undisclosed areas of the airport and are asking airport workers who have the legal right to honour picket lines to not cross.

“Until now we have refrained from leaving Chester Johnson Park in an effort to create an environment where a deal could still be reached,” said Cristina Ignacio, one of the cleaners. “But we still don’t have a deal, so we are going to step things up to make sure we are heard.”

The 233 janitors have been without a contract since the end of September and say their employer has refused to offer wages that keep up with rising costs. They clean nearly the entire airport including the terminals, bathrooms, hallways, exterior, YVR operations, before and beyond security checkpoints.

For more information visit www.YVRjanitorStrike.ca

SEIU Local 2 represents 20,000 workers in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We are proud members of the largest, fastest growing, and most dynamic union in North America.

Media Contact:

Tina Oh
(902) 955-9966
toh@seiulocal2.ca