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Gate Gourmet and the unions representing some of its employees were released from mandatory labor talks by The National Mediation Board on Monday. This moves the airline catering company closer to striking as early as July 30th (after a 30-day cooling-off period ends). Employees cannot walk off the job until then under the Railway Labor Act, which governs union relations in air travel.
The airline caterer provisions many airlines including Air Canada, Air France, British Airways, Qatar Airways, United Airlines, and more in the United States. If the employees do strike, thousands of passengers could be left without meals, snacks, and beverages on their flights in August.
In a statement, Gate Gourmet said:
While Gate Gourmet presented an industry-leading offer to the union at our latest negotiations, we were unfortunately unable to come to an agreement.”
Strikes can and do happen. This spring, Gate Gourmet workers at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) struck before they were able to get a new contract. The airlines will certainly apply some pressure here, but if a strike occurs it’s best to plan ahead and bring your own food and beverages on board this August.
Anthony’s Take: We’ll have to wait and see if employees actually do strike or if an agreement is reached. Smart travelers will fend for themselves with food and drink either brought from home or purchased in the airport before boarding.
(Image Credits: Gate Gourmet.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
