This Influential Labor Union Wants To Help The Lowest Paid Airport Workers

On Labor Day, labor unions back a proposal that could raise wages for tens of thousands of the lowest paid airline industry workers —- wheelchair assistants, janitors, security assistants cabin cleaners and others.

Unions, led by the Service Employers International Union, seek approval of a proposed amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization. Called the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act, it would set a minimum wage to be paid at every airport that receives federal funding. The amendment was reintroduced in March by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jesus Garcia (D.-Ill.)

The amendment is “the only way to solve the problems at the airports where 250,000 workers, mostly Black, brown and immigrant, live in poverty, have no health care or time off, went through the pandemic, were laid off, came back and still work for poverty wages,” said Rob Hill, executive vice president of Local 32BJ of SEIU, the second largest U.S. labor union with about two million members.

Congress resumes this week after a break. “We are lobbying right now,” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry, in a recent interview. “Workers are meeting with Senators, who are home during recess. We are running ads to call on Senators for their support to get this written into FAA reauthorization.”

SEIU had organized about 36,000 airport service workers at 43 airports, many in recent years through a national airport organizing program. Its path has been to convince city councils and other branches of government to raise the minimum wage and then to extend the benefit to airport workers.

However, recently, the possibility of local government and agency action at airports in Atlanta and Dallas has been diminished by state legislatures that block actions by local governments. For instance, “The city of Dallas can’t set wages anymore,” Hill said.

He said the 1931 Davis Bacon Act is a model. It is a federal law which requires that prevailing wages, set by the Department of Labor, be offered on public works projects for laborers and mechanics. The act extends to federally funded or assisted contracts in excess of $2,000 for construction and repair of public buildings.

During the pandemic, many airport workers were laid off, Hill said. Post-pandemic, “A huge shortage of staff and high turnover resulted in travel chaos, The airlines won’t do anything about it, so we’re calling on Congress to set wage standards.”

Many of the workers were once employed by airlines and were union members, but in the bankruptcies of the 2000s and 2010s, the jobs were turned over to contractors, Hill said. “Now the airlines use private contractors and have everybody bid for the work. That also drives down wages.” In other cases, he said, the workers are employed by airports, which generally pay prevailing wages.

The bill also has backing from UNITE Here, which represents more than 40,000 workers at airport caterers, concessions and lounges. Additionally, in June, Allied Pilots Association President Ed Sicher spoke at an SEIU rally at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. APA represents 16,000 American Airlines pilots. “Without you, there is no interstate commerce,” Sicher told airport workers. “And without us, together, believing in the importance of what we do, and securing by contract what we’re worth, management will continue to grind us down and offer us as little as they possibly can.”

The amendment was not included in the House FAA reauthorization bill. Sam Whitehorn, principal of Washington lobbying firm Elevate Government Affairs, said it faces opposition from Republicans and others. “There aren’t sixty votes for it in the Senate,” he said.

Whitehorn said airport funding is complex and workers at each airport are paid differently, some by airports, some by airlines or their contractors and some by municipalities. “I don’t see why airports are singled out,” he said.

Lobbying organizations that represent airports did not respond to emails. Airlines for America, which represents airlines, has not taken a formal position on the amendment but A4A opposes targeting specific work groups, such as airport workers, at specific locations, such as airports, for specific benefits not offered elsewhere.

Hill said the amendment has White House support and backers can negotiate for passage. “We operate on the basis that things that have a good chance of happening,” he said. “We felt like the Senate was the place we could do this. We can have reconciliation with the House bill and we’re fighting as hard as we can.”