The security officers, baggage handlers and wheelchair attendants – all employees of subcontractor Aviation Safeguards – will walk off the job at Delta terminals at Kennedy Airport at 10 p.m. Wednesday, union officials said.
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Still, Mann said the demands of lower wage workers could loom as a growing issue for the industry.
Security guards notified Delta of the impending strike a week before today’s announcement, in order to give the airline enough time to come up with backup security.
But the Aviation Safeguards workers say their bosses have repeatedly violated their rights and threatened to fire anyone who went on strike.
Last year, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey made it a requirement for contractors to pay workers at least $10.10 an hour.
“They have expressed that they want 32BJ as their representative and obviously we support that”, he said.
Union officials say Aviation Safeguards has come down hard on workers after they began a campaign previous year for higher wages and enhanced benefits.
A call to Aviation Safeguards was referred to its parent company, Command Security Corp. of Herndon, VA, which did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
“While the airlines have been making record profits and the Port Authority has approved billions of dollars to modernize LaGuardia airport, the airport workers who make these profits possible are struggling to survive”, said a news release from SEIU 32BJ.
Hector Figueroa, 32BJ’s president, said the workers are attempting to form a recognized union and “have not yet won recognition of their bargaining status”. “That should not be happening in our airports, that should not be happening in our country”. Additionally, it is unclear what impact a strike might have on Delta operations.
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The workers potentially involved in the walkout represent a small fraction of the employees at the two airports. JFK airport employs 37,000 while LaGuardia employs 11,000, according to Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman.
