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A slow down at Viking Air has led to layoffs at Vancouver Island’s largest aerospace facility, costing the community over 110 good jobs. The union representing the laid off workers is demanding that the company cancel its contracts for outsourced work to minimize the layoffs in Victoria.
“Viking Air needs to examine the work that was outsourced when the facility was at capacity, because those jobs belong in Victoria,” said Jeannie Blaney, Unifor Local 114 Representative. “Our community and our members have taken a serious hit, so that work needs to come ‘in-house’ as soon as possible.”
Viking Air employs over 250 skilled technicians that build Twin Otters and spare parts. During 2013 and 2014, orders for the aircraft were high and the company contracted out certain work that it didn’t have the capacity to meet at their facility. With a slowdown in orders, it now claims that it cannot immediately bring back the work to minimize the lay-offs.
“We can’t control the market demands, but we can control who does the work,” said Stu Sheilds, Unifor National Representative. “We look forward to working with Viking Air to get our members back to work.”
