Issued September 01, 2015
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—As vacation goers prepare to fly to and from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) for the Labor Day weekend, airport workers went on strike to protest repeat labor violations by airline contractors, G2 Secure Staff and Eulen America that are preventing employees from organizing to improve poverty wages and poor working conditions. Both companies, which service Spirit, Southwest, American Airlines, JetBlue and others, are currently under federal investigation by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for violating workers’ rights.
“We make the airlines profitable. We make things run,” said Newton Ingram, a skycap for G2 who works two jobs just to support his family. “We should be able to benefit from the success that we contribute to. At the very least, we should be able to fight for better working conditions, without fear and intimidation.”
Wednesday’s strike is the latest in a series of coordinated actions taken by airport workers at major origin and destination airports across the country to demand $15 per hour and union rights as they join together to pursue their goal to make our airports safe, secure and stable for both passengers and employees.
When the pope visits Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia later this month, airport workers in those cities will be taking action as well to ensure that Pope Francis, who has been outspoken about economic imbalance, witnesses their struggle.
Sandra Smith, a wheelchair attendant who works for two airline contractors at FLL—G2 and Eulen, takes a two-hour bus ride every day to the airport, where she earns $8.50 and $8.05 an hour, qualifying her for food stamp benefits.
“We simply cannot survive on the wages we are earning,” said Smith. “I work more than 50 hours a week, assisting those passengers who use a wheelchair. I love my job and I love helping people. But it’s not fair that I am paid so little that I can only afford to live in a one-room apartment with my grown daughter. I certainly can’t afford to go to the doctor if I get sick. All we’re asking for are livable wages, decent benefits, and the respect and dignity we deserve on the job.”
The Fort Lauderdale workers were inspired by the recent victory of their counterparts at Sea-Tac International Airport following Washington’s Supreme Court ruling that the 2013 voter-approved $15 minimum wage city ordinance applies to Sea-Tac workers as well.
Attempts to organize to improve wages and working conditions have been met with continued intimidation and retaliation. Eulen recently paid a $21,000 settlement to former employee, Marc Gatterau, who was fired after appearing on television and at a rally protesting low wages.
Earlier this summer, G2 workers went on strike after the NLRB found the contractor had engaged in retaliatory tactics for engaging in union activity, including suspending workers. Both companies are again under investigation for new charges of threats and coercion, including reports that G2 management took surveillance photos of striking workers.
Paula Castillo earns $8.50 an hour as a lobby agent working for Eulen, which services American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue and others. She says she was ordered to take a pin off that said, “We need a living wage,” because Eulen is an “anti-union company.”
“Many of us who work here have emigrated from countries where we don't have the right to organize and stand up for our rights," said Castillo. “But If I can't fight for better working conditions here, in the United States of America, where can I?”
For more than two years, FLL workers have been organizing for living wages and better treatment on the job. These wheelchair attendants, baggage handlers, cabin cleaners and others, who earn an average of $8.14 an hour and have no meaningful benefits, are excluded from Broward County’s $13.20 Living Wage Ordinance. Salaries are so low that 29 percent of workers at FLL must rely on some of government assistance, including food stamps or housing assistance.
By contrast, their G2 and Eulen counterparts at Miami International Airport, who are covered by the Miami-Dade living wage law, earn as much as $14.27 per hour.
The strike culminated in a rally outside the Broward County Commissioners meeting, where elected officials, faith leaders and community members joined workers in demanding they finally close the loophole in the county’s Living Wage Ordinance, which allows contractors to maximize their profits by shortchanging their employees.
“This is part of a national movement to improve working conditions for low-wage earners and their families,” said U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings. “We must ensure that companies respect their workers’ to organize for better wages and benefits.”
The commission introduced a bill in May to extend the ordinance to include contracted airport workers and commissioned a study on the issue. But two more motions are needed to advance the measure and the study, which should have been done in July. Advocates say once this loophole is closed, it will inject an additional $14 million per year into Broward's economy and communities.
The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is responsible for 135,000 jobs and has an estimated annual economic impact of about $10.6 billion. Unbeknownst to most Floridians, the airport has a shadow economy in which hundreds of workers struggle with poverty wages, without access to affordable health benefits or sick days. That’s because the airlines—which are earning record breaking, billion dollar profits—are outsourcing jobs to low-bid contractors who routinely cut costs on the backs of employees.
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Airport workers across the country are coming together in Airport Workers United, a movement of workers and their allies, raising their voices for $15 and union rights to make our airports safe and secure for passengers, employees and our communities. Together, they have won a union voice for 15,000 airport workers and have already secured wage increases and other job improvements for more than 45,000 airport workers nationwide.