Airport workers demand higher pay, benefits near Sky Harbor in Phoenix; 6 arrested
Shouts and chants echoed against the cement and glass of Sky Harbor International Airport’s Sky Train station near 44th and Washington streets in Phoenix on Tuesday afternoon as over 100 airport service workers gathered to demand higher pay and better working conditions.
Alana Billingsley, a flight attendant for American Airlines and member of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, criticized the company and other major airlines for boasting about record profits while underpaying and overworking their staff in potentially dangerous conditions.
“Every day, airport workers show up to ensure our nation’s airports run smoothly and safely,” Billingsley said. “Throughout the pandemic, they were deemed essential. While millions of people were working from home, sheltered from disease, these workers continued working every day.”
Billingsley pointed out that as air travel has increased, airport workers are no longer treated as essential. She shared stories of workers enduring temperatures exceeding 100 degrees without access to clean water. She criticized the fact that many of them aren't paid a livable wage and are forced to rely on tips they receive for assisting disabled passengers.
Many aren’t given affordable health care options or paid leave either, Billingsley added.
“It’s disgusting,” Billingsley said. “And the reason for all of this is corporate greed. Greedy CEOs make several million dollars every year — giving themselves raises and bonuses off the backs of these workers through wage theft and off the back of the consumers. Every single one of you who travel by airplane. They are taking it through inflated prices and nickel-and-dime you for every single imaginable fee. We’re all standing here together to say enough is enough.”
Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers, praised the airline workers for standing up to their employers.
“Our workers see a difference when they work under a union contract,” Romero said. “In the heat, a union worker is more likely to speak up, take extra breaks, demand to be treated fairly.”
Romero and other speakers urged Congress to include the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act, which mandates airports to pay airline service workers wages and benefits set by the U.S. Department of Labor, in the 2023 FAA Reauthorization bill
The protest coincides with strikes by other major labor unions, including the Writers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, and the United Auto Workers.
After the speakers finished, union members walked a short distance west to 41st Place, where they chanted messages of solidarity. After about five minutes, nearby Phoenix police officers used a speaker to inform the group they were obstructing the roadway, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and warned them they would be arrested if they didn't return to the sidewalk.
Most of the group moved to the sidewalk, while six people defiantly sat in the road. Phoenix police played the message multiple times in both English and Spanish. Eventually, nearly a dozen officers approached the group and handcuffed them without incident.
The officers then walked the six people toward a group of nearby patrol cars, which they were placed in.
Phoenix police did not immediately respond to questions as to whether the union members remained in police custody as of Tuesday evening.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Airport workers protest for higher pay, benefits in Phoenix
