Atlanta, GA – Service workers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) demonstrated on Monday May 1, 2023 to demand living wages for those working at nations busiest airport.
Service workers were calling on Delta Air Lines and the City of Atlanta to address high staff turnover at ATL and stabilize the airport service workforce.
Airport service workers organizing with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are joining together with non-union workers demanding Delta Air Lines pay
at least $15/hr. ATL is the second largest employer in the South and is a major travel hub for Delta, which effectively sets the rates of pay for airport service workers. Last year, Delta effectively raised ATL service workers’ wages to just $12/hr while raking in $50.6 billion in 2022.
ATL workers Yvonne Bryant and Rio Bryant recently took their demands to Capitol Hill, joining Senator Ed Markey and Representative Jesús “Chuy” García to announce the reintroduction of the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act.
“Airport service workers like me are fired up to demand a fair shot at a good life, with fair wages and real benefits like affordable healthcare, paid leave and protections at work,” Rio Bryant, a wheelchair attendant at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, told the crowd during the live streamed press conference on Capitol Hill. “The great news is this is possible. Now, we need Congress to reject the system that is failing all of us and stand with working people by passing the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act.”
The legislation would help stabilize the air travel industry by ensuring airport service jobs are good jobs that put workers on a path to a liveable wage with benefits like affordable healthcare and paid sick leave. From coast to coast, airport service workers are urging Congress to take action and pass the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act wage and benefit standards as part of the FAA Reauthorization.
