CWA airport workers joined thousands of their colleagues and supporters to participate in a national day of action on December 8, 2022 to raise awareness about their current working conditions and build support for legislation that will improve them. CWA members, members of other unions including the Service Employees International Union and UNITE HERE, community supporters, elected officials, and other workers participated in rallies and demonstrations at 15 airports across the country including in Dallas, Miami, Charlotte, and Chicago.
The workers, who are fed up with ongoing challenges, took this bold action to demand Congress pass the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act. The bill is the first legislative proposal of its kind that will set national wage and benefit standards for essential airport and airline workers. On Capitol Hill, Democratic members of Congress including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Ed Markey (Mass.), Senator Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Congressman Chuy García (Ill.), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) joined union leaders, airport workers, and allies for a live-streamed press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol Building, echoing their demands for better jobs through the passage of the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act.
Other prominent lawmakers and union and community leaders showed their support online while over 7,000 activists, including hundreds of CWAers, sent emails to their representatives in Congress urging them to support the legislation. “Whether you work for an airline or you work for a company like Swissport, we are here to keep O’Hare running. We all deserve good wages and benefits. Keep up the fight,” said CWA Local 4201 member Carolyn Marsalek, an American Airlines customer service agent at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. “It is time to step up. Contact the people that you have elected to office. We need to support the legislation and we need to act immediately,” added Deborah Johnson, President of CWA Local 6001 in Texas.
By cwa-union.org/news (Reprinted)
