Airport taxi drivers can join Ottawa’s Blueline and Capital fleets, the Ontario labour board has ruled.
The 137 drivers will get to choose which company they want to work for in order of seniority, according to an agreement reached June 27, ending a 10-month lock-out at the airport.
Up to 95 drivers will join Blueline, and the rest will go to Capital.
OBJ360 (Sponsored)
Giving Guide: Senators Community Foundation
What we do At the Senators Community Foundation, we share a deep love for our team and our city. Hockey isn’t just about any one of us—it’s about all of
What we do The YMCA of the National Capital Region is a charitable association dedicated to igniting the potential in people, helping them grow, lead, and give back to their
Labour board vice-chair Matthew Wilson said the decision was “the most appropriate and equitable way” to divvy up the drivers, considering the two companies had been covering the airport since the Airport Taxi fleet was kicked off the stand last summer.
Airport Taxi drivers haven’t been allowed to pick up passengers there since a dispute about pick-up fees boiled over into pickets, road blocks and protests in August and September.
About a dozen airport drivers aren’t even allowed to drop people off on airport property anymore after the airport authority issued trespass notices during the rowdy pickets.
Monday’s ruling said the union has agreed to “help” those drivers have the notices lifted.
Blueline and Capital will start phasing the new drivers in next week, and within 30 days all drivers who accepted the offer should be working, Mr. Wilson ruled.
This article originally appeared on metronews.ca on June 29.
