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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 2016)
November 23, 2016 The Skanner Page 9 News O’Hare Workers to Strike on Nationwide ‘Day of Disruption’ Along with O’Hare workers, thousands of fast-food workers plan to walk off their jobs Nov. 29 CHICAGO — A strike by hourly workers at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago will add another dimension to a nationwide day of protests by fast-food em- ployees who have been pushing for a $15 hourly wage and union rights, “ were jobs you could live off of. Now airport jobs are just like fast-food jobs. We’re all standing together.” The Service Employ- ees International Union announced Monday that hundreds of workers will strike that day at O’Hare, one of the nation’s busi- est airports. The union has helped fund and staff whether the strike will last longer than one day. The Chicago Depart- ment of Aviation said it doesn’t anticipate any disruption in service. Some holiday travel- ers are nervous, how- ever. Kim Maguire, 40, of Crystal Lake, was at O’Hare on Monday with her 3-year-old daugh- ter and husband as they Four decades ago, airport jobs were jobs you could live off of. Now airport jobs are just like fast-food jobs. We’re all standing together organizers said Monday. Thousands of workers plan to walk off the job at McDonald’s restaurants and other fast-food spots in more than 340 cities on Nov. 29, organizers said in a news release. The planned “Day of Dis- ruption” will mark the fourth anniversary of the first protests at Mc- Donald’s restaurants in New York. The attention-grabbing airport strike is “going to cause complete disrup- tion in travel plans for the day and maybe days to come,” said Kendall Fells, national organiz- ing director of the Fight for $15 campaign. “Four decades ago, airport jobs the Fight for $15 cam- paign. O’Hare is the only air- port where workers plan to strike, though organiz- ers are planning protests at airports in 18 other cities, including Boston, Washington, D.C., Den- ver, Atlanta, Seattle and Los Angeles. About 500 O’Hare workers committed to a strike after a vote last week. They are trying to organize with SEIU Local 1’s help. They work for private contractors at the airport and include baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, janitors and wheelchair attendants. Organizers said it will be up to workers to decide headed out for a holiday trip to see relatives in Se- attle, with a return flight scheduled on the strike date. “I don’t want it to im- pact our travel plans,” Maguire said. “Espe- cially traveling with a 3-year-old, delays would be difficult.” Maguire said she sup- ports the workers and is grateful to those who clean planes, especially reaching into seat-back pockets. “I wouldn’t want to reach my hand in there,” she said. Julio Godoy, 54, an O’Hare airplane cab- in cleaner who makes $10.50 an hour, said he plans to take part in the AP PHOTO/NAM Y. HUH, FILE By CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press In this Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015, file photo, travelers line up at a security checkpoint area in Terminal 3 at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. Hundreds of O’Hare International Airport workers that are trying to unionize have voted to go on strike ahead of the 2016 Thanksgiving holiday. Officials with the Service Employees International Union Local 1 said Thursday Nov. 17, 2016, that about 500 workers have committed to strike. strike. He said he knows co-workers who have been stuck by the nee- dles of syringes left in seat-back pockets and who then needed to be tested for HIV and hep- atitis. He said he’s also concerned about being asked to check planes for weapons and explosives without training. There had been con- cern that the strike would fall during the busiest travel days. In announcing the Nov. 29 strike, the union and workers on Monday por- trayed the date as a con- cession to families. “O’Hare airport work- ers often can’t afford a proper Thanksgiving dinner and know what it’s like to miss Thanks- giving with our fami- lies,” said baggage han- dler Raquel Brito, who announced the strike date. “However we re- spect families traveling to be together and that is why we’re holding off our strike until after the Thanksgiving holiday.” Information is powerful. Retirement cont’d from pg 8 why access to 401(k) and other retirement plans is so important. Most lower-income households will save when they have access to a retirement plan. “ Research at Boston Col- lege. “For an upper-middle class person, not being able to maintain their standard of living means fewer trips,” says Alicia meantime, many work- ers are simply working longer. David Tucker is 74 and still waking at 1:15 each morning to get to his job as a skycap at Reagan Na- The power is in your hands. ‘I have to work and pray and hope my health continues to remain good so that I can contin- ue to work. I still have a mortgage and all the insurance that goes along with that, and I have to pay payroll for my employees, which is re- ally important to me. I can honestly say I’m frightened about the future’ The problem is that most don’t get the opportunity. Eighty percent of high-income working households have access to a 401(k) or similar de- fined-contribution plan, according to the U.S. Gov- ernment Accountability Office. For low-income working households, it’s just 35 percent. The low retirement bal- ances mean the majority of households — 52 per- cent — are at risk of hav- ing to cut their spending by more than 10 percent after entering retire- ment, according to the Center for Retirement Munnell, the center’s director. “But for low- er-income people, it can really mean depriving themselves.” POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS To help close the gap, states are trying their own measures. Califor- nia recently passed a law requiring employers to automatically enroll their workers in a state- run program and deduct money from each pay- check. Experts prefer a broad- er fix from the federal government but call the state programs an en- couraging step. In the tional Airport outside Washington, D.C. He says he may con- sider retiring next year or cutting down to a few days per week. And what would he look forward to in retirement? “I would like to feel what it’s like to wake up and not go to work,” he says. “For a while, that’s all I would like to do. I wouldn’t worry about anything else.” AP Data Journalist An- geliki Kastanis and AP Business Writers Joseph Pisani and Sarah Skid- more Sell contributed to this report. NEWS www.TheSkanner.com TheSkannerNews @TheSkannerNews
