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Airline Workers At JFK, LaGuardia To Go On 24-Hour Hunger Strike For Higher Wages
By
Emma Whitford
Published Nov 24, 2015
Modified Nov 24, 2015
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32BJ
By
Emma Whitford
Published Nov 24, 2015
Modified Nov 24, 2015
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On the heels of a 24-hour strike at JFK and LaGuardia late last week, coinciding with airline worker strikes at major airports across the country, airline workers at both city airports have announced that they will go on a 24-hour hunger strike for a $15 minimum wage and union rights.
Airport terminal and cabin cleaners have long alleged that Roma and Ultimate Aircraft, JetBlue's non-union cleaning service subcontractors, fail to supply their employees with sanitary gloves or goggles to clean airport bathrooms and airplane galleys, and distribute unmarked cleaning chemicals. Workers say their wages, which start at the Port Authority-mandated minimum of $10.10, are not livable.
Cabin cleaners who work for Delta’s subcontractor Gate Serve say the subcontractor has refused to recognize their right to unionize, despite a pro-union vote.
Ramp workers, baggage handlers and wheelchair attendants at airports in Chicago, Boston, Fort Lauderdale and Philadelphia and other major cities will also participate in the fast, some of whom make as little as $6.75 an hour.
"The men and women who keep our airports running will be fasting for $15 and union rights to draw attention to the fact that airport workers often go hungry because they are paid so little that they can’t make ends meet," said service workers union SEIU in a statement.
"The fasters will also shine the spotlight on the intimidation, harassment and retaliation tactics that airport workers encounter from their employers when workers attempt to form unions," they added.
According to an SEIU spokeswoman, six lead organizers of the 24-hour strike that ran Wednesday to Thursday of last week were not allowed to return to work at JFK late Thursday night. The union said that while it is not uncommon for Ultimate Aircraft to turn away employees when a shift is slow, these rejections seemed targeted.
"They have turned away some of the main leaders of the strike," said SEIU 32BJ organizer Rob Hill. "These six airport workers went on strike with their coworkers, notified their employer the same way their coworkers did and should be allowed back to work, like their coworkers have been."
The workers were allowed to return to their shifts last weekend.
The JFK fast will kick off at 4:00 p.m. today, at Terminal 5. The LaGuardia fast will start Wednesday at noon, at the Central Terminal Parking Lot 1.
In June, non-union cabin cleaners filed an OSHA complaint focusing on the lack of protective equipment and exposure to blood-borne pathogens in JFK's Terminal Five. One anonymous Ultimate Aircraft employee testified, "The company gives me five rags to clean 14 or more planes and each plane has three to four bathrooms. I have to use the same rag to clean the floor, wall, toilet, and sink."
That month, we spoke to Dominise Wright, who has worked the graveyard shift for Ultimate Aircraft as an on-flight cleaner for about two years, and recently got a raise to $11.00 per hour. Wright commutes from Bed-Stuy, where she lives with her sister. "I have my cellphone bill to pay, and putting food in the house, and paying rent—even now making $11 an hour is not doing anything."
Ultimate Aircraft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tagged
airline workers
fast
jetblue
living wage
unions
Emma Whitford
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