Driving an Uber keeps Ian Haugen busy these days. He needs the income after being fired, along with 35 other employees, from their screening jobs at Victoria International Airport (YYJ).
“Honestly, if it had not been for me to fall back using Uber as my form of income, it would be really hard, especially the cost of living in Victoria,” Haugen said.
On the job for 10 months, he managed workers in the secure area of Victoria Airport. Two weeks after being placed on administrative leave, he was done.
“Human Resources called me back where they advised I was being let go,” Haugen told CHEK News Wednesday.
“They didn’t give me any reason as to why, just breach or lack of care at one of our employee checkpoints.”
His employer, Allied Universal Security, is subcontracted by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, or CATSA, to operate the airport’s screening department.
Allied did not respond to requests for an interview.
In a statement sent to CHEK News, CATSA wrote that it did not and cannot direct AUS to fire their employees.
Another airport manager, Randy Rai, says he had no warning.
“I got called February 7th. I got called into work early that morning because my counterpart was sick. I did a twelve-hour shift. I finished my job. Got thanked for doing my job,” he said.
“And I came home and got a call at seven o’clock that night telling me my services, that I was on administrative leave.”
But one day later, Rai was fired.
“This just caught me off guard. There’s been no clarification to what I apparently did. Considering ‘willful misconduct,’ and there’s been no definition of what that actually is,” Rai said.
Every employee who contacted CHEK News says they have not received any explanation as to why they lost their job.
The Victoria Airport Authority refused a request for an interview.
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Mary Griffin
