Dozens of travellers were forced to lug their bags to the Vancouver International Airport on foot Monday to get past a blockade that briefly stopped cars from approaching the terminal.
For about 15 minutes, members of Air Canada's machinists union picketed with recently laid off Aveos employees on the road leading up to the arrivals and departures area.
Aveos, a private company that provides aircraft maintenance for Air Canada, closed its Vancouver plant suddenly on Sunday as it announced 2,400 layoffs across Canada.
A number of irate passengers questioned the workers' methods, arguing they wouldn't curry favour by inconveniencing paying air travellers, but BC Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair urged them to consider the bigger picture.
"They might have been inconvenienced for one day for whatever reason, but… when [employees] win wage increases, when they win dental plans and pension plans, then it's a better country for all of us," Sinclair said.
The move came one day after numerous Air Canada flights were cancelled across Canada as the airline dealt with a higher-than-usual number of pilots calling in sick. Five flights from YVR were among the cancellations.
Analysts have called the sick days a response to the Conservative government's back-to-work legislation that was passed last week, preventing labour disruptions at Air Canada as the company negotiates a new contract for pilots and ground crew unions.
