Contracted airport workers to hold nationwide protests over low wages

Contracted airport workers are protesting in 20 U.S. cities to demand higher wages on Wednesday, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced.

The workers include people who aid passengers with wheelchairs, clean cabins, handle bags and work in security, according to an open letter to the CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines from the SEIU. The union, along with Airport Workers United, organized the protests.

“You have the power to transform the airline industry so that every airport job can be a good job that sustains families and helps build stronger communities,” the letter to the airlines’ leaders said.

It added that it is “Black, Latino and immigrant workers who do the majority of these contracted jobs that pay low wages and lack benefits, holding families and communities of color back.”

The letter specifically demanded that the CEOs sign a pledge promising to acknowledge airlines’ responsibility to “end poverty wage jobs and inequality,” respect workers’ right to unionize and set a minimum wage and benefit standard, among other provisions.

“We are paid so little it’s hard to live. I can’t afford to do much of anything outside of paying my bills. I work full time but it’s not enough. I have to get a second job to make ends meet. We’re not going to stand for this anymore,” Jalen Graham, a cabin cleaner at Charlotte Douglas Airport, said in a press release about the protests.

“Why should a wheelchair attendant in Chicago be paid $18/hr to drop a passenger off at their gate, while the attendant who picks that same passenger up in Dallas is paid $8/hr?” the SEIU’s president, Mary Kay Henry, asked in the release.

Protests were scheduled in Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Newark, New York City, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C., among other cities.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) tweeted her support of the protests. 

“Today I’m standing with @SEIU and @GoodAirports, calling out the major pay discrepancies between airport workers and CEOs. Airport workers can be paid as little as $8/hour, while CEOs are paid on average $5,000/hour. It’s time to raise the wage for workers across this country,” she said.

When asked about the protests, United told The Hill the airline “has a strong track record of working closely with unions.”

“We also require our vendors to comply with all federal, state and local laws including minimum wages, benefits requirements, and labor laws,” the airline’s statement added.

The Hill has reached out to American and Delta for comment.