The City of Richmond was expected this week to throw its support behind 350 sacked aircraft maintenance workers.
More than 2,600 people were thrown out of work nationally after Aveos, which has a Richmond base, announced March 20 it was liquidating its Canadian aircraft maintenance business.
Aveos is the private firm created in 2007 when Air Canada converted its technical services division, which did all of the maintenance and repair work on its planes, into a stand-alone operation.
Last week, at the legislature, NDP leader Adrian Dix asked Pat Bell, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, to support a joint resolution asking for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to intervene in the dispute between Air Canada and Aveos to protect skilled jobs in Richmond.
City council was preparing Tuesday night to lend its weight to the fight by passing a resolution showing solidarity for the workers who were laid off with no notice.
The resolution was drafted after a delegation of Aveos employees addressed city council's general purposes committee last week.
"Richmond City Council supports the efforts of approximately 350 skilled air-frame maintenance workers laid off by Aveos Fleet Performance Inc. (AVEOS), to be accorded the same job-protection as their counterparts in the operation overhaul centres in Mississauga, Winnipeg, and Montreal," the resolution reads.
"Further, that if the federal government amends the Air Canada Public Participation Act, Richmond City Council supports the addition of the City of Richmond to the Act."
The city also plans to send its resolution to the Prime Minister, the federal Minister of Transportation, local MPs and B.C.'s premier.
The B.C. Legislature unanimously passed a joint resolution last week in support of laid-off Aveos workers.
The closure of Aveos in Richmond may have left Air Canada in violation of the Air Canada Participation Act, which requires the airline to maintain operational and maintenance centres in Montreal, Mississauga and Winnipeg.
Since 2004, most of the work in those cities has gone to Aveos, a private company in which Air Canada owns about a 20 per cent share.
