On behalf of the Service Employees International Union, which proudly represents 40,000 airport service workers, I want to make sure members of Congress and the public knows that the crisis we witnessed at our nation’s airports during the government shutdown is not new.

The cabin cleaners, wheelchair agents, baggage handlers and other hundreds of thousands of airport service workers who keep airports safe, secure and accessible experience the dysfunction of our broken system every day. For decades, passengers have faced delays and cancellations, reaping the consequences of low wages and high turnover at our nation’s airports.

These staff shortages have been fueled by employers who pay poverty wages even in hubs where the cost of living is high and continues to rise. Turnover and short staffing resulting from low wages and lack of healthcare benefits tie into the passenger experience. A 2018 memo by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reported annual turnover of more than 30% for privately-employed airport workers, with turnover in some job classes reaching 65%.

A number of other studies have shown that low wages and poor benefits result in higher airport worker turnover, which leads to greater numbers of less trained and less experienced workers in the workplace. In turn, workers are “less familiar with safety and security procedures … less able to anticipate and identify potential hazards, and more uncertain about where to take their complaints or how to report problems.”

In airports, where every worker has an important security function, a less experienced workforce is “correlated with more accidents and security violations, and may undermine airport security procedures in the event of an emergency.” This in turn affects all passengers but especially those with disabilities, who often rely on trained professionals for safe transfers to and from their seats, as well as the secure transport of essential equipment like wheelchairs.

While airline CEOs pay themselves tens of millions of dollars and enjoy lavish perks, too many service workers don’t have affordable healthcare or the benefits they need to take care of themselves and support their families. Across the country, only 13 airports have provisions requiring employers to provide some measure of healthcare affordability to their workers.

It’s no coincidence that the same greed fueling the crisis in air travel is also at the root of the healthcare crisis hurting millions of households as ACA premium tax credits expire. Airlines, making billions in profits, backed the Republicans’ cuts that could rip healthcare away from the workers they rely on while refusing to provide them with affordable employer-sponsored healthcare. At the same time, airport service workers have been left out of important policy discussions that impact their jobs and their ability to keep our airports safe, accessible, and functional for all of us.

SEIU members, including airport service workers across this country, have had enough of the hypocrisy. How can we expect a first-class aviation system when hardworking people can’t afford to go to the doctor, purchase life-saving medications, or even take a day off when they’re sick?

Working people are no longer going to accept inaction from our elected leaders. It’s time to hold airlines accountable – stop these attempts to destabilize our country and airports, and fund healthcare.

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