May 1, 2023

Passenger Services Workers Rally at SFO for Fair Wages

Passenger services workers rtepresented by SEIU United Service Workers West at SFO rallied at the airport April 20 to call attention to their fight for fair wages.

Passenger services workers at SFO rallied at the airport April 20 to call attention to their fight for fair wages. The members of SEIU United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW) include security guards, baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, fuelers, and cabin cleaners who risked their health and the health of their families to keep the airport operating throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. They are demanding livable wages from airport contractors including Covenant Aviation Security, Prime Flight, and ABM that will enable them to afford to care for their families and live in the Bay Area.

A statement from the union noted that SFO workers are in crisis, with the wages for Passenger Services Workers not adequate to survive in the Bay Area. These Essential Workers are a vital part of the Bay Area’s economic engine, but they can’t afford to live in the Bay Area. The San Mateo County office of housing classifies their income as “very low income.” The workers say they are struggling to get by and are fed up with airlines and contractors paying such low wages that many service workers have to work two jobs or more just to make ends meet. Many face food and housing insecurity with the high cost of living in the Bay Area.

SEIU-USWW member Nestor Dolde said he works for two airline security companies, ABM and G2. “We are here to grieve our demands for higher wages,” he said. Dolde said the one-dollar wage increase proposed by the vendors is not enough. “We need the increase now because the cost of living is too high,” he said. “We cannot afford to sacrifice. We are paying higher food costs, higher rents and higher transportation costs.”

SEIU-USWW President David Huerta said the union members wanted to send a message to United and other airlines that “poverty wages don’t fly.” He noted that the service jobs used to be jobs that fueled the middle class. “And then, one by one, the airlines outsourced these jobs and in outsourcing them, they created poverty-wage jobs. Those poverty wages won’t feed our children or put a roof over our heads. So we are demanding living wages and affordable, accessible healthcare. While airlines are making billions of dollars, and were bailed out during the pandemic, workers kept on working and taking risks to make sure people had the ability to travel.”

Huerta said the action at SFO was just one of many taking place around the US, with rallies at LAX, JFK, Chicago and other airports. “We want good jobs and good airports,” he said.
Myra Mendez, a janitor at SFO, said she works hard and “thanks to my work, passengers at SFO have a good experience. SFO is rated as one of the top airports in the country. The airport and airlines like to say how it’s a great airport, but it’s the workers like us who clean the airport that help make it one of the best airports.” Mendez said “the contractors and airlines don’t pay the wages and benefits needed for the workers to have a healthy life. Because of these low wages, I can’t always afford to buy healthy food. We demand they pay wages with dignity that will enable us to live comfortably.”

SF Supervisor Hillary Ronen picketed within the SIEU members and told them she appreciated how SEIU wheelchair attendants took care of her father when he traveled to San Francisco. “We depend on you in San Francisco to provide a good experience, and we need to pay you back for that work,” Ronen said. “It is not OK to pay poverty wages in the most expensive city in the richest country in the world.” Ronen said the SF Board of Supervisors “is in this fight together” with airport service workers.

San Mateo Labor Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Julie Lind said the 85,000 union members represented by SMCLC affiliates stand in solidarity with the service workers. Lind noted that union members have gathered at SFO several times to fight for better wages and working conditions. She said airlines took a ton of money during the pandemic and that SFO has talked about setting the standard for all airport workers throughout California, but “the people that work the hardest continue to be paid the least.” Lind said the Labor Council would continue to support the airport workers and mobilize other workers and elected officials to demand the service workers get a fair contract.

SEIU United Service Workers West represents more than 45,000 janitors, security officers, airport service workers, and other property service workers across California.
Members of HERE Local 2, UFCW, Teamsters, and the Airline Pilots Association picketed with SEIU-USWW workers. Several elected officials also walked picket lines with the service workers.

San Mateo City Council member and retired UFCW Local 5 leader Rich Hedges said he joined the picket line to “support people who need a fair deal. The cost of living is through the ceiling; these workers need to not just catch up but to get ahead.” Hedges pointed out that, “the airport couldn’t function without these essential workers. The service workers make it possible for society to function.”