For months, airport workers have been calling on Charlotte City Council to pass an ordinance to boost pay and enhance working conditions for contractors at the airport.
Ahead of Monday night’s meeting, labor union, 32BJ SEIU, held a press conference calling on Charlotte City Council to send the Charlotte Acting for Safety and Efficiency (CASE) Ordinance to committee. The proposed ordinance would establish “minimum standards for wages, benefits, and training for airport workers employed by airline contractors and permitted businesses.”
Cabin cleaner Maribel McBeath addressed Charlotte City Council during the public forum.
“We are still rushing to get these planes clean with hardly any breaks to eat, use the restroom, get water or take medicine,” she said.
Councilmember Tiawana Brown made a motion to refer the ordinance to committee. It sparked a lengthy, and at times intense, discussion for the last hour of Monday night’s Charlotte City Council meeting.
Councilman Malcolm Graham, Councilman Ed Driggs and Councilwoman Marjorie Molina cautioned that the city doesn’t have the authority to mandate the pay of any entity other than itself. The employees addressing Charlotte City Council work for a subcontractor for American Airlines, not the city of Charlotte. The city of Charlotte’s minimum wage will soon be $24 an hour.
“By state law, we can’t do, encourage or enforce an independent contractor in terms of what they pay their workers,” Graham said.
Graham and Driggs had flashbacks to more than a decade ago when state lawmakers tried to take away the city’s control of the airport.
Graham said it is important for the city to not do anything that puts the airport in jeopardy
“My antenna goes up when it comes to things related to the airport that can provide some controversy,” he said.
Councilmember Tiawana Brown says she is more concerned about the treatment of the airport workers.
“Mr. Graham, my colleague, has his agenda, and Councilwoman Brown has her agenda,” she said. “My agenda is for the people, by the people.”
Despite the mayor’s tiebreaking vote against this, she says she is going to keep pushing.
“For me, it’s about the integrity of airport workers,” she said. “It’s about the people that push the wheelchairs. It’s about the people that clean and keep the airport going. I support them. I love them.”
Statement from 32BJ SEIU:
Today, 32BJ SEIU issued a response to Mayor Vi Lyles and City Councilmembers Dante Anderson, Edmund H. Driggs, Edwin Peacock III, Marjorie Molina, and Malcom Graham voted against a potential discussion or action to address airport safety and worker turnover at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).
“We are deeply disappointed by the outcome of last night’s City Council vote,” said Chris Baumann, Southern Region Director for SEIU Workers United. “While Mayor Lyles may not have recognized it with her vote, we know corporations and workers can thrive and grow together in Charlotte. As Charlotte continues to flourish, our elected officials need to invest in the people who have built this city and keep it running, including airport workers.
“The mayor and the City Councilmembers who turned their backs on workers last night should know that we are going to continue to hold them accountable until they act to make the airport safer for workers and passengers.
“We will be getting out the vote in the upcoming elections - and we will remember who stood with workers over corporations–and who didn’t. The high turnover rate continues at CLT, and workers are still dealing with unsafe working conditions. Summer is approaching, and it’s going to get hot out there, yet many workers still go without water. This in addition to their daily struggles of barely getting breaks, facing injuries, are doing double the workload, while struggling to survive and afford basic necessities.
“We are disappointed in the vote but we will not stop fighting for a safe airport for all of Charlotte, where experienced workers stick around because they are earning fair wages and benefits.
“Thank you Councilmembers Dimple Ajmera, Tiawana Brown, Renee Johnson, Victoria Watlington, and LaWana Mayfield for taking action and standing up for workers.”
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