I'll Eat On The Plane

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Basa steaks. Use any other white fish if you like. Red snapper is nice but has a lot of bones.

No, you won't. Food service workers are on strike.

Flying business class? Plane staff will give you gleaming knives, forks and spoons wrapped in linen serviettes (napkins). They will serve the food you chose on the menu on a real plate, like the one you have at home. Flying economy? You will get standard food on little trays. Air hosts used to ask passengers: Chicken or fish? I haven’t travelled in a while so I don’t know if that choice still exists, or not. How did the food get on the plane?

Food Service Workers Strike

Somebody cooked the food and brought it to the plane. Somebody washed those little economy trays and Buckingham Palace plates used in business class. Somebody brought it on the plane before it took off for Bonn, Lyon, Dubai or Milan. They are called food service workers. I thought about them when I learned 800 workers, that work for a catering company called Gate Gourmet went on strike on 16 April, for better wages. The company operates from both Pearson International Airport in Toronto and Vancouver International  Airport.

The 800 workers belong to a union and it says workers in Vancouver are paid more than Toronto. This might be because of minimum wage disparity. Canada has a federal minimum wage, which is set by the government. The 10 provinces have their own. Example. Ontario, is currently $16.55 an hour. British Columbia’s minimum wage is $16.75. The union is also accusing the company of laying off workers, which results in more work for remaining members.

The strike got me thinking about things that are in the basement of our minds. We worry about delayed flights and automated check-in, but we seldom think about that plate of food. How did it get there and who washed the dishes?

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Blogger Without Borders

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