Canadian Labour Reporter

$1,035 per month more than the monthly rate. "What it's doing is putting low- wage workers into an even more difficult situation," said Unifor national president Jerry Dias. "It's completely ridiculous that they would try to make out like ban- dits off the backs of the people who provide such an essential service. It's outrageous." Following the decision to change the dispatch fee, Unifor members continued to serve the airport but stopped paying their fees on Aug. 1. According to Dias, dispatch fees are generally increased or restructured when additional income is required to reinvest in the airport. However, the most recent renovations at the Ottawa International Airport are com- plete and paid for, he said. "There is absolutely no reason in the world for them to do this," said Dias. "This is just straight greed." When the fees became over- due on Aug. 11, Coventry dis- abled the transponders the drivers use to open gates to the airport, effectively locking out the employees. Coventry argued the model for dispatch fees needed to be updat- ed in order to reflect the current climate. "Airport trips have increased over the years," said Coven- try's vice-president and COO Marc Andre Way. "The previous charge model required a fixed monthly fee paid per cab. This model of having a fee per trip is more equitable. If one driver does many pickups and another does very few, the amount paid by each driver is in accordance with the trips picked up." The airport authority also ar- gued the new dispatch fee model was more equitable than the pre- vious monthly flat rate. In a press release, the airport authority said the contract was negotiated in good faith and called the agreement a solution for long-term stability for both customers and drivers. "We are confident that Cov- entry can fulfill the terms of the contract, however, the model that they use to calculate and collect fees is their business," said Mark Laroche, president and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority. "We cannot negotiate with drivers as they are not airport authority employees. We respect their right to protest." Drivers did protest the lock- out, setting up a picket line on the public arrivals curb in front of the terminal. The dispute escalated as drivers took to the streets and slowed incoming and outgoing traffic around the airport to a crawl. Service to passengers was largely unaffected, however, as taxi drivers with Blue Line reached an agreement with Coventry Connections on Aug. 14. Coventry owns a number of taxi lines in Ottawa, including the Blue Line and Airport Taxi- branded cabs. Additionally, Cov- entry has allowed other drivers to pick up airport fares so long as the drivers pay the newly negoti- ated per-fare rate dispatch fee. Many drivers continued to protest the change in dispatch fees, however, with Unifor argu- ing the increase is irresponsible in a climate where drivers are currently losing income to Uber, the online ride-share app. "The elephant in the room of all this is you've got Uber," Dias said. "So here we have the taxi com- panies, which should be joining with us in fighting against Uber, but instead we have the airport authority and the taxi company picking on the people that are playing it straight." Dias argued Uber is detrimen- tal to the airport authority and taxi service broker as much as it is to drivers, since Uber does not pay dispatch or airport fees. "Instead of us working togeth- er to really deal with the elephant in the room, they decide to try to take more out of the pockets of those that are playing by the rules," Dias said. "It's just com- pletely ridiculous and irrespon- sible." A local auditor is conducting a review of taxi and limousine bylaws in Ottawa, which could affect the way the parties address Uber. KPMG will lead the review, accompanied by public policy think-tank the Mowat Centre and economic adviser Hara As- sociates. The review will include a consultation with stakeholders and the public and will end mid- November. While the review may change the way Unifor addresses Uber in the future, the union will have to find its own solution to address the dispatch fee negotiated by Coventry and the airport author- ity. "Clearly, the airport author- ity is going to have to play a role in the solution or the airport au- thority, clearly, is going to have to justify to the flying public why they did this," Dias said. The union offered to double the flat monthly fee to $690, but said Coventry rejected the offer. Dias said the parties need to come together to create a solu- tion and move on to address oth- er issues plaguing the industry, including Uber. "Ultimately, as a labour orga- nization, we're not going to play solitaire. You can't bargain with yourself," he said. 7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER NEWS Photo: Reuters < from pg. 1 New fees more equitable than previous flat rate: Airport authority A local auditor is conducting a review of taxi and limousine bylaws in Ottawa, which could affect the way parties like Unifor and Coventry Connections deal with issues such as Uber in the future.

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