Fort Lauderdale - As vacation goers prepare to fly to and from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport (FLL) for Labor Day Weekend, airport workers will go on strike Tuesday morning to protest repeat labor violations by airline contractors, G2 Secure Staff and Eulen America, that are preventing employees from organizing to improve poverty wages and poor working conditions. Both companies, which service Spirit, Southwest, American Airlines, JetBlue, and others, are currently under federal investigation by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for violating workers’ rights.
WHAT: FLL airport workers strike over repeat labor violations by airline contractors Eulen and G2.
WHO: Congressman Alcee Hastings, Broward County DEC Chair Mitch Caesar and community supporters. Airport workers including: Wheelchair attendants, cabin cleaners, janitors, and lobby agents.
WHERE AND WHEN:
5:30 – 8:30 AM: Tuesday, September 1, Strike Line outside walkway on Departure Level between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2
For press availability with striking workers on Monday evening, contact Ana Tinsly at 646-331-4765
12:30 PM: Rally and march outside Broward County Government Building 115 S Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL FLL airport workers, Congressman Hastings and other electeds, and community supporters.
Visuals: Striking workers with t-shirts and signs. Silent DJ stations, which will pump music and messages of encouragement to headphones worn by striking workers.
Background:
For over two years, FLL airport workers have been organizing for living wages and better treatment on the job. These wheelchair attendants, baggage handlers, cabin cleaners and others, who earn an average of $8.14 an hour and have no meaningful benefits, are excluded from Broward County’s $13.20 Living Wage Ordinance. Salaries are so low that 29% of workers at FLL must rely on some of government assistance, including food stamps or housing assistance.
Attempts to organize to improve wages and working conditions have been met with continued intimidation and retaliation. Eulen recently paid a $21,000 settlement to former employee, Marc Gatterau, who was fired after appearing on television and at a rally protesting low wages. Earlier this year, G2 workers went on strike after the NLRB found that the contractor engaged in retaliatory tactics for engaging in union activity, including suspending workers. Both companies are again under investigation for new charges of threats and coercion, including reports that G2 management took surveillance photos of striking workers.
The strike will coincide with a rally outside the Broward County Commissioners Meeting that afternoon. Congressman Alcee Hastings, workers, and supporters will demand commissioners finally close the loophole in the County’s Living Wage Ordinance, which allows contractors to maximize their profits by cutting costs on the backs of their workers.
