PHL Airport workers fasting for higher wage, hold vigil at City Hall

Local elected officials joined Philadelphia International Airport workers and clergy members Tuesday afternoon at City Hall for a prayer vigil in honor of a 24-hour fast calling for higher wages, better working conditions and union rights.

“Philadelphia needs good jobs at our airport," Councilman Kennyatta Johnson told the Philadelphia Business Journal. "We cannot allow airline contractors to add to the problem of poverty in our city. Airport workers deserve a living wage and a union.”

The vigil comes less than a week after the workers took part in a strike at Philadelphia International Airport last Thursday that started with a wave of contracted PHL employees walking off the job Wednesday night.

Employees working for airport contractors, like baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, cabin cleaners and other service workers, are looking to get $15 an hour.

The contractors were mandated to pay $12 an hour, Philly's minimum wage standard, earlier this year, but only after the city reached a lease agreement with the airport. But some workers say they have not received the pay increase.

Along with Councilman Johnson, Councilman Curtis Jones was also present at the Tuesday vigil as many of the airport workers and their supporters were part way into a 24-hour fast, which is occurring at airports in 10 other cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Denver, Boston and Newark, New Jersey.

The local group will break the fast on Wednesday at 12 p.m. for a full Thanksgiving dinner outside of the PHL Airport at Terminal B/C, according to 32BJ Service Employees International Union, which has helped the non-union workers organize their demonstrations.

SEIU said the group has spent the last three years trying to organize, but the contractors often fired workers who have expressed interest in unionizing.

Representatives from PHL and American Airlines, which has a hub at the airport, have declined to comment on previous rallies by the contracted workers since they are not their employer.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal