SFO workers claim wage theft by food contractor
San Francisco International Airport said it is investigating airline food contractor LSG Sky Chefs after a labor union submitted claims that 136 employees in airport kitchens have been victims of wage theft.
Unite Here, a union representing hotel, food and gaming workers, published a report on Thursday alleging that LSG Sky Chefs may owe as much as $22,500 in back wages to its staff at SFO as of May 20. Wage theft is a term that covers payment below the minimum wage, denial of meal or rest breaks, nonpayment of overtime and other cases of insufficient pay by employers.
SFO’s Quality Standards Program requires certain airport contractors to pay a minimum wage, which increased by 30 cents to $14.14 an hour this year. The airport may impose a fine of $1,000 per employee or violation per day.
The union said that SFO began an audit on LSG Sky Chefs in April. The audit is not yet complete, airport spokesman Doug Yakel said.
LSG Sky Chefs said employee salaries are set under a contract it negotiated with its international union in 2016.
“It is the company’s position that the applicable (collective bargaining agreements) take precedence over local minimum wage ordinances and that the proper way to address these issues is through the collective bargaining process that is already in place,” LSG Sky Chefs said in an email. San Francisco’s minimum compensation ordinance includes provisions for waivers under collective bargaining agreements.
“It’s hard enough to make ends meet for workers making just $14.14 (an hour) in San Francisco,” said Anand Singh, president of the union’s Local 2, which represents workers in San Francisco and San Mateo County. “The airlines are making record profits. Airline food workers deserve to earn a fair wage just like other women and men who work at SFO.”
“I deserve to make the airport’s minimum wage,” said Miguel Sobalvarro, who cooks for LSG Sky Chefs at SFO. He said he is being paid $14 an hour — 14 cents lower than the minimum wage his employer is supposed to pay.
LSG Sky Chefs serves Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue Airways and several international carriers, according to the union’s report. It said the company also committed wage theft at airports in Denver, San Diego, Seattle and Miami.
Alaska and JetBlue did not respond to requests for comment. An American Airlines spokeswoman said the company was not aware of the report’s allegations against its contractor.
In Miami, the union alleged that 785 employees made less than the $12.62 county’s minimum wage. Employees there are owed a total of $12.5 million in wages since 2014, the report claimed.
“These workers are often taken advantage of because of their immigrant status, and the fact they are not fully aware of their basic rights makes them vulnerable,” said Gordon Mar, executive director of Jobs With Justice San Francisco, which fights for workers’ rights, wages and work-life balance.
Mar said San Francisco airport workers are owed less than those in other cities, which may reflect higher awareness by workers of their rights. “But still that’s a large amount of money that they have been cheated out of and deserve.”