CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Newsletter) — Airport service workers who work for airline service providers at one of American Airlines’ fastest-growing hubs are coming together with allies and other workers throughout the airline’s system to demand the country’s largest domestic air carrier take responsibility for the airport service workers who fuel their profits. On Tuesday, workers in Charlotte will be joined by airport service workers from every American Airlines hub at a rally to demand the airline use their power to ensure that their airline service providers end poverty wages, respect workers’ right to form a union, win affordable healthcare and commit to ending practices that leave Black, brown and immigrant workers siloed in poverty level jobs. The rally comes as over 10,000 airport service workers around the country bargain new contracts with their employers where they reiterate the same demands.
As American Airlines prepares for their annual shareholder meeting on June 5, Charlotte service workers are calling out the company’s corporate greed and stubborn commitment to exorbitant CEO pay even in the midst of slowing growth and poor business decisions. CEO Robert Isom was awarded $31.4 million in compensation in 2023–nearly double the pay package of the next highest paid airline chief executive and 464 times the pay of the median employee at American Airlines, according to the company’s own estimate. Workers in Charlotte who work for airline service providers will rally alongside fellow workers from across American Airlines hubs and throughout the aviation system; SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Rocio Saenz; local clergy; local community leaders; aviation unions including CWA and UNITE HERE and other unions including APFA, Unite Here, and USSW.
The Tuesday rally kicks off three days of action to coincide with the shareholder meeting, as the company struggles with a myriad of business and labor issues. Workers will be in motion leafleting and taking to the streets at American Airlines hubs from coast to coast, from New York to Miami to Dallas and beyond.
Airport service workers make travel possible for passengers by keeping airports safe, clean, and running. However, the chronic short staffing of positions like baggage handlers have led to poor workplace conditions for workers and a steadily deteriorating level of quality for consumers. In 2023, American Airlines was ranked the worst among U.S. carriers in key metrics of service quality, like most misplaced bags and highest number of disability-related complaints. Workers have also long decried discriminatory hiring policies across the aviation industry that have siloed Black, brown and immigrant workers into the lowest paid positions with the fewest benefits. Surveys have shown that while 41% of workers in the air transportation industry writ large are People of Color, the percentage in contracted passenger-service jobs at the airport is 70%, while about 80% of workers in the lowest paid service jobs like cabin cleaners and wheelchair attendants are People of Color.
Despite their critical role in the profits that airlines and major corporations enjoy, many airport service workers must work 2 to 3 jobs to make ends meet. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom had a pay package of $31.4 million in 2023, roughly $15,000 an hour. He was paid 464 times the salary of median employees at the airline, when meanwhile, airport service workers’ wages have barely budged in 20 years. In Charlotte, airport workers earn as little as $14 an hour, with few, if any benefits. Meanwhile, the average rent for a two bedroom apartment in Charlotte is $1899 a month.
Event Details:
WHO: Local airport service workers including baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, janitors and more; SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Rocio Sáenz, Local clergy, community leaders, Workers across industries in solidarity with airport service workers including CWA, UNITE HERE, USSW
WHAT: Action to demand respect, fair wages ahead of American Airlines shareholder meeting
WHEN: Rally at 10am Tuesday, June 4, 2024
WHERE: Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Corner of N. Josh Birmingham Parkway and Wilkinson Blvd
VISUALS: Airport service workers, allies with signs, chanting
