SAN FRANCISCO, CA Sept. 25, 2008 – Airline service workers at San Francisco International Airport voted overwhelmingly yesterday to authorize a strike at one of the busiest airports in the country. Workers who came out to vote on Thursday said that they were fighting against declining standards of service and security at the airports. Poverty-level wages and lack of access to affordable family health care are causing record turnover rates among workers and driving a race to the bottom in service and safety standards.

Workers called on airline giants such as American, Cathay Pacific and United to take a leadership role in calling for higher standards for service and security.

“The airlines can do a lot better to improve services to their airline passengers and airport security, while at the same time make these good jobs for our families and our communities,” said Vicente Rosario, who cleans the cabins of Continental Airlines planes. Rosario, like most airport service workers, earns only $12 an hour and does not have access to affordable family healthcare.

Workers employed by contractors Prime Flight and G2 Secure Staff voted yesterday to authorize a strike. Employees of a third contractor, Air Serv, are also in negotiations at the airport.

J.D. Power and Associates reported recently that customer satisfaction in the airline industry is at a three year low. They argue that, “In this unstable industry environment, it is critical that airlines invest in their employees as a means to enhance the customer experience, as there is a strong connection between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction.”

How much would raising standards cost?  Less than 25 cents per ticket.  Providing a livable wage and family health care coverage could be implemented for a cost barely noticeable to passengers. Less than 25 cents per ticket would improve passenger service and airline security.  Despite raising ticket prices by an average of $200 and instituting a range of new fees, airlines have been unwilling to make this minor investment in the workers who directly impact overall travel-experience of their passengers.

CRISIS IN AIRLINE SERVICE INDUSTRY

Low wages and lack of healthcare are driving a turnover rate among airport service workers that is as high as 50% per year in some jobs. This negatively impacts service and security at California airports. High turnover in the industry prevents security officers and other passenger service workers from getting the experience and training they need to adequately protect and provide quality services to airline passengers.

At SFO, airline service workers such as security officers, janitors, passenger service workers, cabin cleaners, ramp and cargo crew, on average, earn less than $12.00 an hour, putting them well below the $54,000 per year that the Economic Policy Institute says is necessary for a family of four to survive in California. In addition, none of the service workers have access to affordable family health care.

“We are the face of the airlines. We are the people that passengers see every day,” said Patrick Jack, who provides skycap services for American Airlines through his employer G2 Secure Staff and has worked at the airport for 19 years. “We are taking a stand for better service, better airport security, and for better quality jobs.”

California Airline Service Workers Stand Up for Better Service and Security

More than 5,000 airline service workers at LAX, SFO, Oakland and San Jose airports united in SEIU Local 1877 have been in contract talks with their employers—including G2 Secure Staff, Air Serv, Prime Flight, Aviation Safeguards, and Aero Port Services—to win the increases in training, pay, and health and other benefits needed to stem a turn-over rate currently topping 50 percent annually. These subcontractors service American, United, Southwest and other airlines and perform the majority of the security, janitorial and passenger service work at LAX, SFO, San Jose and Oakland airports.

On August 28, hundreds of workers at LAX—one of the world’s largest and most heavily-traveled airports—walked off the job to defend their civil rights and protest their employers’ refusal to improve services that directly affect passenger safety and airline security. LAX workers returned to work the next morning after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa brokered a three-week “cooling-off period” and called for “the workers and contractors, with the support of the airlines, to come to a fair agreement that ensures quality services and keeps passengers moving safely and efficiently at the international gateway to Southern California.”