Canada Local 2921 Airport Screeners Build Power in Virtual Negotiation Prep Course

The IAM Local 2921 Negotiating Committee for Local 2921, along with staff members from District 140 and Air Transport Coordinator Keith Aiken participated in the Negotiation Preparation for Bargaining Committees Program. For the first time the program included an online negotiation simulation from the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Hollywood, MD, which is closed for the remainder year because of COVID – 19.

The members are preparing for their upcoming negotiations with Garda. The local represents Pre-board Screening Personnel at Toronto Pearson International Airport who are certified by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.  

The week-long program combined three full days of virtual training with IAM Education Representative Julie Frietchen from the Winpisinger Center and ended with a virtual mock negotiation. The committee also worked long hours at District 140 gathering membership surveys and working on proposals. 

“The committee worked hard, and after the virtual training they are better prepared to advance the needs of the Local Lodge Union members,” said Frietchen.

“The committee was excited to get started on their training and the virtual training worked very well,” said Aiken. “Our training instructors are world class and this training has helped our team get ready for our upcoming negotiations with Garda.”

“Amidst this COVID pandemic, the IAM’s negotiating committee for Local 2921 is facing the most challenging environment we could have imagined, yet they stepped up to the challenge and are prepared to move forward with their bargaining agenda,” said IAM Canada General Vice President Stan Pickthall. “It is a great deal of work to prepare for negotiations, and this committee demonstrated their ability to adapt as they worked through the training and exercises using an integrated training that included live and virtual elements.”

“Though COVID-19 has presented extraordinary challenges to the members we represent and to the organization as a whole, myself and the entire Executive Council are committed to continuing the important and necessary work of education, organizing, representation and bargaining,” said International President Robert Martinez Jr. “The online Negotiation Prep Program provided by the Winpisinger Center to the members of Local 2921 is indicative of the new ways we are approaching the work of the organization. Education remains essential to our future as a powerful and effective labor organization. I am proud of the committee for their willingness to engage in this online program, and am confident are now better prepared to represent their members at the table.”

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