Essential workers still on the job at San Francisco International Airport say they are grappling with paying for health insurance for themselves and their families, which could leave them more vulnerable to the coronavirus
San Francisco Supervisors Shamann Walton and Rafael Mandelman said Tuesday they are seeking an ordinance that would lower costs for airport workers.
The Healthy Airport Ordinance would lower prices for more than 9,000 cabin cleaners, luggage handlers, janitors, security officers, wheelchair attendants and caterers working at SFO, along with their families, according to the supervisors and the Unite Here Local 2 and Service Employees International unions.
The ordinance would amend the city’s Health Care Accountability Ordinance, passed in 2001, and expand it to require employers at SFO to provide insurance benefits that meet certain minimum standards of the Affordable Care Act at no cost to employees. It isn’t clear how much it would cost employers.
Employers could choose to instead pay into a Covered California medical reimbursement account for SFO workers, Mandelman said.
He said that as of Monday, 76 workers at the airport had tested positive for COVID-19, and many workers are uninsured or underinsured and cannot afford monthly premiums on meager salaries.
Pearl Li, a furloughed flight coordinator at SFO, would benefit from the proposed ordinance if she gets her job back.
Li worked for Gate Gourmet for almost 16 years organizing and moving food and beverages aboard aircraft and consulting with crew members before air travel slowed to a trickle during the pandemic and she lost her job.
She needs health insurance for herself and her husband, who suffers from diabetes and will likely require dialysis for the rest of his life for kidney problems.
Li had been purchasing insurance through Covered California for $541 per month, but the price jumped to $690 per month in July. That is on top of the $8,000 she said she pays each year out of pocket for medical expenses.
“I live paycheck to paycheck,” Li said, noting that while her current premiums are high, the coverage offered through her employer is even more expensive.
Gate Gourmet did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The airport has increased cleaning protocols and requires workers and passengers alike to wear face masks and observe social distance while moving through the airport, among other precautions to guard against the spread of the virus.
Despite those rules, The Chronicle previously reported that many workers still face exposure to the virus while working in public spaces and in food prep areas as well as on planes. Some have chosen to quit their jobs, refusing to gamble with their health.
“This state of affairs is inhumane and awful, and it is also dangerous for passengers,” Mandelman said.
Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice
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