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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2020)
PAGE 4 | December 18, 2020 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS ...New $15 wage floor at Portland Airport From Page 1 Our members have the power to make the season bright. Enjoy Your Holiday Season from cabin cleaners employed by G2 Secure Staff, janitors employed by disability nonprofit Relay Resources (formerly PHC), and wheelchair assistants working for G2, Huntleigh USA, and Bags Inc. But Long said the new pol- icy falls short, because about 60% of the service workers al- ready make around $15 an hour. That means they won’t see a real wage bump until Jan. 1, 2022 under the policy. “These wage increases need to be implemented much faster,” Long said. “They should happen in July. Workers currently at $15 can’t wait a year for another wage in- crease.” Local 49 has been cam- paigning since at least 2014 to raise standards for Portland air- port service workers, and lately has been pushing the Port to mandate increased sick days and affordable health care. An earlier airport policy raised wages to $15 for wheelchair assistants. “The Port has had to be pushed every step of the way to take leadership,” Long told the Labor Press. After Pippenger reported on the new policy, SEIU Local 49 Political Director Felisa Hagins and several Local 49 members addressed commissioners. “I like this job, but the wages are a real problem,” said union shop steward Donald Martin, a Huntleigh employee who helps mobility-impaired passengers get to and from their terminals. “We have lots of people work- ing here who are just barely making it.” Hagins reminded Port com- missioners that airline service workers used to be employed directly by airlines, but were contracted out to slash worker wages and benefits. Airlines increased profits by creating a class of impover- ished workers, and that may have lowered the quality of service. SEIU conducted an analysis of badged workers in 2017, Hagins said, and found that an- nual service employee turnover ranged from 59% to 143%. The new minimum wage policy came at the initiative of Port executives, and doesn’t re- quire the approval of the Port Commission. Representatives from organ- ized labor used to occupy two seats on the otherwise busi- ness-led nine-member com- mission, but Oregon Gov. Kate Brown reduced that to one last year—SEIU Local 49 Presi- dent Meg Niemi. Niemi pointed out that the Port received a letter from the trade group Airlines for Amer- ica opposing the new minimum wage. The industry is in a frag- ile and vulnerable financial po- sition, wrote Airlines for Amer- ica Vice President Sean Williams, and expects recovery to take at least three years. “We respectfully write in op- position to the proposal to ap- ply a separate minimum wage mandate to airline service providers,” Williams wrote. “Doing so would make PDX less competitive.” “They say they’re in a crisis because of the pandemic,” Niemi told fellow commission- ers. “Well, they were just as op- posed to raising wages and benefits for Black, brown, and indigenous workers a few years ago at the height of their prof- its, when they were doing stock buybacks and paying share- holders huge dividends rather than saving for a rainy day.” Niemi said even with the new wage floor, workers at Portland International Airport will earn much less than work- ers under similar policies at other West Coast airports. Holiday Greetings to Organized Labor We hope the holidays find you healthy and safe IBEW Local 125 Main office: 12029 NE Glenn Widing Rd. Portland, Oregon 97220 17200 NE Sacramento, Portland, OR 503-262-9125 Serving the Employee Benefit Industry for 66 Years.
