If you’re planning travel on Oct. 2, your travel plans may be impacted due to worldwide demonstrations.

 

Workers from more than 40 airports in 13 countries are planning to protest for higher wages, union rights, and better working conditions. According to Airport Workers United, demonstrations are expected to be held at airports in Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, and Baltimore, which could impact more than 36% of the world’s daily travel, where nearly 4 million people pass through each day. Demonstrations are also being planned at Charles De Gaulle in Paris, Schipol in Amsterdam, and Flughafen in Frankfurt.

 

Inspiration from the New York Port Authority’s recent vote to raise the minimum wage for more than 40,000 workers at JFK, La Guardia, and Newark airports to $19,  is what promoted the anticipated protests.

 

The global airline industry is projected to profit more than $38 billion in 2018, but some of those working in airports said they are having trouble paying their bills. According to a report prepared by the Economic Roundtable, nearly 30% of airport workers are forced to rely on public assistance for basic needs like food, housing, and medical care.

 

The demonstrations are intended to mobilize wheelchair attendants, baggage handlers, and other laborers who perform low-skilled jobs at airports, according to the lobbying group Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

 

“In city after city all across the country, airport workers have won raises—doubling their income in some cities—and the right to form a union,” says Mary Kay Henry, President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

 

“They’ve done it by coming together to elect leaders who work for all of us, no matter our skin color or zip code, and calling on those elected officials to hold greedy corporations accountable. We won’t stop until all working people—white, black and brown—can join together in unions for the power in numbers to win higher wages, affordable healthcare and a better life for their families.”

 

news