Avis Budget rental car workers demonstrate for new contract
Avis Budget Group rental car workers in East Boston demonstrated outside the company’s regional office Saturday afternoon to demand a new contract that includes better pay and reduces health care costs for employees.
The demonstration comes amid a resurgence of union organizing across the country — including striking Hollywood writers and actors, and Teamsters demanding raises for United Parcel Service workers — and Avis Budget workers in East Boston are paying attention, said Adam Kaszynski, the president of the local union representing the employees.
“We’re tired of austerity company policies, and we’re willing to stand up and fight for a fair contract,” Kaszynski said in a phone interview.
Avis Budget workers are seeking greater pay increases to keep up with the soaring cost of living in Boston, and an end to scheduling practices that have resulted in the company denying workers from taking time off, and requiring them to work erratic shifts, according to a union statement.
They are also calling on the company to address rising health care costs, which can eat up more than a third of workers’ paychecks, the statement said.
At least three full-time workers are experiencing homelessness because their pay does not keep up with rising costs to live in the region, Kaszynski said.
Avis Budget Group reported revenues of $12 billion in 2022, with profits of $2.8 billion, according to a statement released in February.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday afternoon.
The duration of a new agreement is also up for discussion, Kaszynski said.
On Saturday, several dozen workers demonstrated and waved at passing cars. Some held signs, including one that read, “Hey AVIS, put workers in the Budget wage increases now!”
The union — International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers/Communications Workers of America Local 201 — represents about 1,500 workers, according to Kaszynski. That figure includes roughly 300 employees at Avis Budget Group in East Boston, he said.
The sides have agreed to two 30-day extensions since their last contract ended June 30, according to Kaszynski. If they can’t reach a new deal by the end of August, Avis Budget members are expected to vote on whether to hold a strike, he said.
“The message we’re trying to send to company leadership is that members of Avis Budget have had enough austerity,” Kaszynski said. “We’ve lived through the cost-of-living crisis, record inflation...the wage proposals the company have offered do not even allow us to tread water.”