LOS ANGELES, CA Aug. 29, 2008 - Hundreds of workers providing services “from curb to cabin” are back on the job at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) today after a landmark strike that highlighted a growing crisis in passenger service and security tied to falling standards for airline service workers. Following a call for all parties to go back to the negotiating table by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this morning airport service workers began returning to work.  

“Millions of people come through LAX every year but we need more training and support so we can provide the highest quality service and security that passengers deserve,” said Julio Topete, a cabin search crewmember with Aero Port Services. “People don’t stick around in these jobs because the pay is too low to support a family and the health care is too expensive. This strike showed that we are willing to stand up for respect on the job and to improve service here at LAX for workers and passengers.”

Hundreds of workers—who provide services including security at terminals, gates, and cargo facilities, wheelchair assistance, janitorial services in aircraft cabins and terminals, and SkyCap and baggage handling services—walked off the job yesterday to protest civil rights abuses and service companies’ refusal to improve services that directly affect passenger safety and airline security.

According to Mayor Villaraigosa’s release, “striking workers will return to work without retaliation and the parties will resume negotiations.” The statement goes on to say, “I am urging 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,”(source: http://www.lacity.org/Mayor/index.htm). 

Over the three-week “cooling off” period workers will go back to negotiations with service companies contracted by major airlines including United, American, and Southwest Airlines to reach an agreement on improved training, pay, and  benefit standards.

More than 2,500 airport workers at LAX united in SEIU Local 1877 are paid an average of only $10.50/hour or $19,000 per year—far short of the $54,000 per year the Economic Policy Institute reports it would take to support a family of four in California. In addition, a recent survey by the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) found fully three-quarters of wheelchair attendants reported problems with broken or malfunctioning wheelchairs and another third reported witnessing a passenger being endangered due to equipment problems or inadequate staff training. For months, workers, passengers rights advocates, and area faith and community leaders have been calling for improved training, more adequate equipment, and wage and benefit increases that would stem turnover rates among airline service workers currently as high as 50 percent annually.

"We're glad to be going back to the table with the contractors.  We hope that the airlines will make a real commitment to raise standards for workers and passengers at LAX,” said baggage porter and bargaining committee member Maria Romero.

Despite raising ticket prices by an average of $200 this year and instituting a range of new fees, airlines have so far been unwilling to support improvements for workers that would cost less than 25 cents per ticket. Meanwhile JD Power and Associates has reported customer satisfaction in the airline industry at a three year low and argues “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.”

LAX workers have been in contract talks with their employers since early July. They are employed by some of the largest airline service contractors in the country, including G2 Secure Staff, Air Serv, Aviation Safeguards, and Aero Port Services.  

Similar talks are underway with many of the same contractors at airports in San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.  Most of those contracts will expire at the end of this month.

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