More YVR food service workers join union

More than 200 food service industry workers at Vancouver International Airport have voted to join a union.

The cooks, dishwashers, servers, cashiers and bartenders who work for SSP Canada at YVR voted last week to join UNITE Here Local 40.

The workers serve the travelling public at outlets such as Monks Bar and Grill, Dirty Apron, Sal y Limon, Banh Shop, Freshii and Thai Hang, among others SSP is one of several multinational operators contracted by the Vancouver Airport Authority to operate food service outlets inside the terminals

The new union members will join nearly 350 other food service workers at YVR already represented by the union.

According to the union, contracted airport food service workers are not covered by the YVR Living Wage announced in 2022, with many of them earning well below the Metro Vancouver living wage of $24 08 per hour

“We congratulate the 200 SSP workers who took the brave step to stand up and join our union so they can bargain for a better standard that all YVR airport workers deserve,” said Zailda

Chan, president of Local 40

The union also represents airline catering workers, who led a strike action at Gate Gourmet at Vancouver Airport in 2022 and won the biggest wage increases in years for those food service workers.

Following that victory, the majority of Gate Gourmet workers will be making close to $25/hour by this summer