Queens airport workers call for higher wages as contract deadline approaches
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1,000 airport workers rallied at JFK Airport on Thursday to call for increased wages and benefits a few weeks before their labor contract expires. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Over 1,000 airport workers between Queens’ two airports rallied on Thursday to call for higher pay and increased benefits just weeks before their labor contract runs out at the end of the month.
Workers from both John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports rallied at the South Queens airport arguing that their bosses at the Port Authority should increase their wages and benefits on par with their New Jersey counterparts as the working class employees manage increased costs of living in the city.
The employees are specifically pushing for an increase from their $19 an hour minimum wage up to $25 per hour, as well as paid vacations and health benefits that are currently available for New Jersey airport workers at Newark, but not JFK or LGA workers.
They want to see the benefits included in their next contract – the current contract expires on June 30.
“Our jobs are important. They're essential for keeping this massive transit hub like JFK, LaGuardia and Newark running,” said Vladimer Clairjeune, a JFK wheelchair attendant and Hillside resident. “Now it's time for workers to get a wage that reflects the role that we play.”
Represented chiefly by the union 32BJ SEIU, the workers who do everything at the airports from cabin cleaning to gate maintenance, believe that with all the money coming into the major hubs, they deserve a piece of the pie.
“We talked about how the airlines are making record profits, we went back from the brink of the pandemic, where you guys are on the front line, dealing with passengers, dealing with an unknown global catastrophe, and sacrificing everything, including some of your loved ones and your coworkers,” said Rob Hill, the union’s executive vice president. “We've come out of that where these guys are now making record profits, and did any of them ever say thank you? Do they offer you a raise? They offer you a share in that profit?”
“Every step of the way…they have refused to acknowledge that you even exist,” Hill said
On top of profits, workers and supporters pointed to the billions of dollars that have gone to renovating both airports over the last several years, that they say came without any real benefits for them.
“It's not just about investing in infrastructure,” said Borough President Donovan Richards at the rally, highlighting specifically $20 billion in investments for the JFK redevelopment. “We need to invest in human infrastructure at this airport as well…We need to make sure our workers have the dignity and respect that they deserve and are treated that way as well.”
Richards, the only elected official who spoke on Thursday but one of many local officials to back the union workers, said he will continue to support them in contract negotiations.
“I want you to know we will forever stand with the workers of this airport – our airports would not run if it were not for the workers,” he said.
For the individual workers however, many of them immigrants and people of color, the wages and benefits are less about political sentiment, and more about keeping their head above water.
“My rent is $2,600 a month, I have a family to take care of, gas is expensive, and the cost of living is out of this world,” said Clairjeune, the wheelchair attendant. “There's so much money being invested into the airport redesign workers deserve a piece.”
Clairjeune says he sees other coworkers take second jobs or more hours to try and fill the gaps when it comes to paying rent, healthcare or affording time off.
“I think people try to supplement the money that they're not making because of the wages, because the wages aren't enough,” he said. “People try to supplement the gaps with the second job or even third job sometimes, and it's really taxing on our bodies. Sometimes we're kind of forced to work overtime. You don't want to come in and work a sixth day.”
Airport workers, like Queens resident Vladimer Clairjeune, called for a $25 per hour wage, and benefits like PTO and healthcare equal to workers across the river at Newark Airport. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
Robert Pizarro, an airplane cabin cleaner, struggles to pay for his medication as a pre-diabetic.
“I am not going to accept that I can't afford medication without coverage, and I definitely can't afford to go further beyond pre-diabetic,” he said, also pointing to the importance of his role at the airport.
“I work with a team to ensure that every plane is safe, clean and ready for takeoff,” he added. “We have to do a thorough check on every plane for security concerns, and we have to do that on a tight schedule. We are the reason these flights take off.”
Esteben Ramirez, another worker at LGA said through a translator that although many of the workers have families overseas, they can seldom afford to visit them without any paid time off.
“[We want] to take our vacations, see our families, enjoy ourselves and relax knowing that when we get back to the United States, we won't have a bill waiting for us that we can't pay,” he said. “We are here because we're fighting for paid vacation, we don't want to take unpaid vacation anymore.”
At the beginning of May, workers were beginning to prepare for more rallies ahead of the contract expiration date, alongside support from other local officials.
“A lot of these workers live in my district, so as someone who cares about worker justice writ large, I definitely care about the workers in my district in particular,” State Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas told the Eagle at LaGuardia in May. “I know many of them are also immigrant workers and workers of color, who are always disproportionately impacted by the wages. I'm here to fight with them. Every worker is important.”
González-Rojas called it “frustrating” that New York, and more specifically Queens airport workers, are not seeing the same benefits as those in Jersey.
“This is the hub of economic activity in this country…LaGuardia and JFK are in the World's Borough, and we want to make sure the folks that are greeting our newcomers and passengers are upwardly paid for the work that they do every day,” she said. “We are the best state in this country…and New York has a higher cost of living. So, these workers really deserve these equitable wages and to meet, if not exceed, New Jersey standards.”
The Port Authority, which operates the airports, said in response to the rally in May that its workers are among the highest paid in the U.S.
“The Port Authority has taken a leadership role in ensuring that airport workers at JFK International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International airports are among the highest paid in the nation,” a spokesperson said. “The Port Authority’s action to expand the minimum wage policy in 2018 has culminated in a $19/hour wage for tens of thousands of airport workers beginning in September 2023.”
