Airport workers succeed where other unions fail
Many across the country will be getting wage bumps.
During the first weeks of 2018, subcontracted service staff at Virginia’s Reagan National and Dulles International airports got a raise. So did baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, and wheelchair attendants at Boston’s Logan airport, who also staged a 36-hour strike to defend their right to organize.
Soon, under laws passed last year, workers at other airports across the country, from Chicago to Los Angeles, will be getting wage bumps, too.
Airport employees have been mobilizing for higher pay and collective bargaining, gaining traction at a time when unions have been struggling.
This month, passenger service workers at an American Airlines subsidiary, now represented by the Communications Workers of America, drew support from 81 members of Congress in their fight for a first-ever contract.
Thousands of United’s catering workers petitioned last month to join the hospitality union Unite Here. And on Thursday, employees at New York’s three major airports-Newark-Liberty, LaGuardia, and JFK-who a few years ago joined the Service Employees International Union, will testify before the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (which oversees the airports) in support of higher wages and better benefits.
In the bleak landscape of private sector union drives, airport employees have provided a rare bright patch. Over the past two years, 11,000 low-wage airport workers have won union recognition with SEIU.
Since 2014, unions have helped secure rules requiring higher labor or safety standards for over 100,000 airport staff.
Organizers have found success at airports in large part because of local public officials. The U.S. Supreme Court has given municipalities greater authority to impose labor-related rules in workplaces they fund, such as airports, and the unions have used political pressure to encourage officials to do just that.
“The politicians are crucial,” said Luis Castillo, an airport security guard and a member of SEIU’s bargaining committee at Denver International Airport. “If we have to go directly to the politicians to put pressure on the companies we work for, that is one of the things that we can actually do.”
“Where you have high turnover, you’re going to have people less aware, less prepared to deal with situations of emergency.”
Local officials and union organizers contend getting pay raises and more training for workers is a matter of travelers’ safety. Higher pay boosts employee retention and performance, according to a joint literature review released in October by the San Francisco International Airport and the University of California Berkeley Labor Center.
“Any situation where you have high turnover, you’re going to have people less aware, less prepared to deal with situations of emergency,” said Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness, a Democrat who’s championed proposals to require paid training and better wages for Fort Lauderdale airport staff.
Union critics claim safety is a red herring in the context of airports. The “vast majority of the time, the employer is committed to a safe working environment,” argued Michael Lotito, a lawyer and member of the labor and employment law litigation committee of the right-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “There is no need to turn to a union.”
Even where organizers haven’t won policy changes that directly open the door to unions, activists contend securing pay raises is a big first step. highest mark in four years, from 2.84 percent a day earlier. That helped banks, as the higher interest rates make lending more profitable. But it hurt high-dividend companies like utility and phone companies. Those stocks are often compared to bonds because of their big dividend payments and relatively steady prices, but investors find them less appealing when bond yields are rising.
Americans cut back on purchases of cars, furniture and a variety of other products in January. The Commerce Department also lowered its estimate for spending in December. That came after a three-month stretch that included the strongest holiday sales in a decade.
Retailers traded higher despite the tepid numbers in the report. Amazon rose $36.54, or 2.6 percent, to a record high of $1,451.05 and Tiffany added $2.15, or 2.1 percent, to $103.11. Nike picked up $2.09, or 3.2 percent, to $67.96.
Nixon, of Northern Trust, said she doesn’t expect inflation to increase very much, but it can be unpredictable from month to month. She noted that it could go higher as people who received tax cuts or bonuses spend their extra pay.
Netflix climbed after the streaming video company said it signed another bigname TV writer and producer to a production deal. According to reports, “Glee” and “American Horror Story” producer Ryan Murphy received a $300 million deal that will span five years. In August Netflix announced a deal with “Scandal” and “Gray’s Anatomy” creator and producer Shonda Rhimes.
Netflix climbed $7.73, or 3 percent, to $266.
Chipotle Mexican Grill soared after naming Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol to lead the company. Chipotle has been hit hard by food safety scares over the last few years and has had trouble winning back customers. Niccol launched breakfast at Taco Bell and also introduced mobile ordering from its restaurants, and investors felt he might improve the company’s fortunes. Founder Steve Ells resigned as CEO in November.
The stock rose $38.58, or 15.4 percent, to $289.91. It traded above $700 in mid2015.
After years of declines, watchmaker Fossil soared $7.93, or 87.7 percent, to $16.97 after it did far better than Wall Street expected in the fourth quarter. The stock was worth more than $100 at the end of 2014, but plunged as competition from smart watches and fitness trackers eroded its sales.
Gold jumped $27.60, or 2.1 percent, to $1,358 an ounce. Silver rose 35 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $16.88 an ounce. Copper picked up 7 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $3.24 a pound.
U.S. crude rose $1.41, or 2.4 percent, to $60.60 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained $1.64, or 2.6 percent, to $64.36 a barrel in London.
Wholesale gasoline added 3 cents to $1.71 a gallon. Heating oil rose 5 cents to $1.88 a gallon. Natural gas lost 1 cent to $2.59 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The dollar fell to 107.09 yen from 107.69 yen. The euro dipped to $1.2435 from $1.2355