Resolution Of LAX Labor Dispute Comes On Eve Of Holiday Crunch

July 2, 2014
Three-year contract covers nearly 2,500 workers represented by SEIU United Service Workers West, including cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, baggage handlers, ticket agents and cargo screeners at LAX.

July 01--L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the resolution of a labor dispute Tuesday involving LAX workers that could have disrupted travel over the Fourth of July weekend.

The three-year contract covers nearly 2,500 workers represented by SEIU United Service Workers West, including cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, baggage handlers, ticket agents and cargo screeners at LAX.

The deal provides wage increases, avoids cutbacks to benefits and establishes a new fund to provide emergency-response training to LAX service workers. It puts many workers on the path to earning $15 an hour over the life of the agreement, according to the union.

Garcetti said the agreement furthers "my vision for an LAX that remains a competitive economic engine that gets passengers where they need to go efficiently and safely and improves the lives of workers who drive it forward."

Garcetti said that if a deal hadn't been brokered, workers could have been without jobs for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, one of the busiest travel periods of the year. The deal was reached, he said, with the help of the mayor's office.

The contract affects airport operations at the American, Delta, United and Southwest terminals, along with the Tom Bradley International Terminal and Terminals 2 and 3 serving dozens of international airlines.

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