Are you a worker in the aviation industry? We urge you to contact us by filling out the form below to support the building of an aviation workers rank-and-file committee to spearhead a workers’ inquiry into the tragic death of Oscar Robayo.
The crushing of ramp worker Oscar Robayo by the nose gear of an Airbus A350-900 while he was performing a routine pushback at Montreal’s Trudeau Airport in August has provoked sympathy and outrage among workers throughout the aviation industry and beyond. Colleagues at multinational subcontractor Samsic, which employed Robayo, and in the wider industry have spoken out to denounce the conditions that led to his death.
Among them is Kevin Gauthier, a former Air Canada pilot who was victimized by his employer and union after he filed a safety report which was suppressed. Kevin contacted the World Socialist Web Site after reading its exposure of the systematic violations of safety procedure by Samsic that created the conditions for Robayo’s death. He made clear, “My sense is telling me loudly that Oscar will not rest in peace until things change within the industry.”
The former pilot’s own struggle for safety at his workplace, and the retaliation he suffered in response, is itself greatly instructive. It illustrates the devastating consequences of the deregulation of air travel, which began in the late 1970s in the US and extended to Canada during the 1980s and 1990s. Kevin’s experiences also reveal the role of Air Canada, a supposed...
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