Service Employees International Union (SEIU) workers and their allies came together on Wednesday, May 7 for a virtual roundtable discussion where they released a new report, Flight Path to Safe, Secure, and Accessible Airports, highlighting how the airport service industry is failing workers with implications for passengers and communities alike. SEIU International President April Verrett and Enrique Lopezlira, director of the Low-Wage Work Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, joined workers as roundtable participants.

Across the three major American Airlines hubs studied – Dallas, Charlotte, and Phoenix – significant percentages of workers reported struggling to afford basic necessities. Across the three airports 30% of workers could not afford medication, 25% experienced homelessness, and 52% ran out of money for food.

The report came on the heels of a rally held on Monday, April 28 at the Phoenix airport. At the rally, airport service workers organizing with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) were joined by Attorney General Kris Mayes at a rally outside Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX) to demand a $25 an hour minimum wage and safe working conditions at PHX, an American Airlines hub. On Monday evening, airport workers at Charlotte Airport, where American Airlines operates as a near monopoly at CLT, running 89% of all flights in and out of the airport, rallied at the City Council to demand fair wages, benefits and training standards for the service workforce.