News

Airport workers at the Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in Florida went on strike today 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.

Today’s strike is the latest in a series of coordinated actions taken by airport workers at major origin and destination airports across the United States to demand $15 per hour and union rights as they join together to pursue their goal to make the country’s airports safe, secure and stable for both passengers and employees.

The Fort Lauderdale workers were inspired by the recent victory of their counterparts at Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle following Washington’s Supreme Court ruling that the 2013 voter-approved $15 minimum wage city ordinance applies to Sea-Tac workers as well.

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 government assistance, including food stamps or housing assistance.

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.

The Eulen America and G2 Secure Staff workers' strike culminated in a rally outside the Broward County Commissioners meeting where workers and their supporters demanded commissioners finally close the loophole in the ordinance, which allows contractors to maximize their profits by cutting costs on the backs of their employees

Nationwide, airport workers are coming together in Airport Workers United, a movement of workers and community allies, raising their voices for $15 per hour 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.