While the airline industry has been steadily boosting wages and benefits since it entered a post-recession recovery, outside of the major carriers it retains pockets of workers – employed at regional airlines as well as caterers and other vendors – who say they have been left behind.
“We want a livable wage,” said Anthony Barden, a 14-year ramp agent at Piedmont Airlines who is president of Charlotte Local 3645 of the Communications Workers of America. “We start at $9.70 an hour, and we top out at $15.60.”
Workers doing the same job at American Airlines, Piedmont’s parent company, make twice as much and “keep getting raises,” Barden said. He was among about three dozen workers who demonstrated Monday at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, although the demonstration was limited by city officials to just 10 people at a time.
