CHARLOTTE — Overnight Monday, Charlotte Douglas International Airport workers voted to go on strike over what they’re calling unfair labor practices and poverty wages.
Service workers including cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, lavatory workers, trash truck drivers and ramp workers said they cannot afford rent or food. The workers are employed by American Airlines contractors, ABM and Prospect.
The strike came at the start of one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Roughly 1 million people are expected to travel through Charlotte Douglas for the Thanksgiving travel season. During Memorial Day weekend, the workers held a similar strike.
Workers said some of them have become homeless or have to sleep in their cars because of the low wages.
At 5 a.m. workers will be on the picket line in the arrivals area. At 11 a.m. they will move the strike to the corner of Wilkinson Boulevard and N Josh Birmingham Parkway, across from the airport.
‘Can’t afford’ it
Service Employees International Union workers picketed on Friday to call attention to the strike. Channel 9′s Glenn Counts met some who said the reality of working at the airport is far from glamorous.
“I know a lot of people, they bring their cars or U-Hauls, I got friends who live in U-Hauls,” said Timothy Lowe, a service worker.
For Lowe, he calls a small storage unit home. He demonstrated to Counts how he gets to sleep in a small space shared with his possessions.
“I’m just in here with the blanket on, but you got to put [the door] down for your own safety and security,” Lowe said.
He’s one of the 700-something workers employed at the airport making between $12.50 and $19 per hour. The union says $23 is a living wage.
“At the job, I can’t afford to get into an actual one or two bedroom,” Lowe told Counts.
Lowe is not supposed to be living in a storage unit. He told Counts he expects to be evicted after this story, but he’s not worried about that.
He believes the fight for better pay and benefits will be worth it.
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