About 200 food service workers at Vancouver’s airport have voted to take strike action if their demands for pay increases in a first contract are not met. In a media release, Unite Here Local 40 said job action “could disrupt daily airport operations as the spring break and Easter weekend rush approaches.”

About 85% of those who voted backed the strike mandate, said Sharan Pawa, a union spokesperson. The employees work for SSP Canada Food Services and staff dozens of food service outlets at the airport.

Pawa said the union is seeking pay increases that would take workers to the Vancouver living wage of $25.68 an hour.

Bargaining, which has been taking place for six months, has not shown progress toward the goal so far, Pawa said, adding, “That is why they’ve escalated to the strike vote, because they’re not seeing that in their bargaining sessions with the company.”

A union-led survey of the airport restaurant and café workers, which Pawa said garnered about 130 responses, found that the average hourly wage is $18.27, and the lowest paid workers make minimum wage.

Achieving the bargaining goal would require a wage increase of about 40%, based on the survey.

SSP did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

While the union has a strike mandate, it can’t take job action without serving a 72-hour strike notice. Pawa said it’s considering next steps, including whether to issue strike notice.

“If major strike does occur, there will be picket lines, but we really don’t know (the impact),” Pawa said. “At this time the workers are still deciding what to do next. They just really want to see progress over the negotiation table, and then they’ll weigh their options and see what’s best for continuing in their fights.”

The union is also unhappy that the airport ended a program that reimbursed staff for taxi and Uber costs when they had to come in to work outside the Skytrain’s operating hours.

It filed a complaint with the Labour Relations Board saying SSP Canada Food Services should be required to bring back a travel subsidy it had before YVR launched its program early in the pandemic.

“Right now the workers are expected to spend up to hundreds of dollars to work their shifts,” Pawa said. “Workers who are scheduled to start before 5 a.m., or end their shifts late, cannot take the SkyTrain home.”

Unite Here Local 40, which largely represents women of colour in the hospitality sector, has a record of advocating loudly for workers at airport hotels and northern BC work camps.

According to their survey of airport food service workers, almost nine out of 10 have said they are struggling to keep up with housing costs and bills.

“With this very strong strike vote, the workers are really sending a strong message that they want wage discrimination to end at YVR,” Pawa said.

In 2022, YVR became certified as a ‘Living Wage Employer’ and adopted a policy of paying the B.C. designated living wage or higher for all its direct staff.