Baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants and cabin cleaners at John F. Kennedy International Airport have a list of grievances to air out on Thursday with Eulen America, the private contractor that employs them in Queens.
With the support of 32BJ, one of the largest unions in the country, the employees will petition their supervisors at JFK at 2 p.m. on Sept. 5 for access to employee payroll reports, pay stubs and more after learning they were docked pay through a work app called Kronos for lunch breaks they never had a chance to take.
“They want any Kronos documentation regarding clock-in and clock-out records, including responses to whether a break was taken,” said Michael Allen, a spokesman for 32BJ SEIU. “They want the Kronos time card audit trail and they are asking for this records for six years.”
The wage and hours records will help the workers determine if they are being paid correctly, according to Allen.
“The problem is that Kronos automatically docks them for 30-minute breaks from their paycheck even if the workers are not getting 30-minute breaks,” the 32BJ spokesperson said.
Many of the Eulen America workers are not fluent English readers or speakers; therefore they do not comprehend what they are punching in on the Kronos app, according to Allen.
“The Kronos is only in English,” said Allen. “The workers just end up saying yes to everything, including whether or not they are taking a break or not, even if they have not.”
