TORONTO, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The Canadian government is poised to lay off about 300 junior security screeners at the country's largest airport in Toronto, the Toronto Star said Thursday.
As part of the Conservative government's cost-cutting measures, sources told the Star Transport Minister Denis Lebel has notified contractor Garda Security Solutions the 20 percent "temporary" labor cuts were due this week.
In recent weeks, 80 security screeners at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport have been laid off, the report said.
The news spread worries among unions representing security workers across the country.
A spokesman for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, the government agency that oversees airport security, said the draw-down in staffing was based on cost and efficiency.
"We asked the [security] providers to propose new ways of doing screening, more efficient, screen more passengers per hour, better customer service, things like that," CATSA spokesman Mathieu Larocque told the Star.
Travelers out of Toronto pay a tariff to cover security costs of $7.48 for a one-way domestic flight and as much as $25.91 for international trips, the Star said.
