Charlotte airport workers schedule to strike during busy Thanksgiving trip week

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Service workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport have gone on strike during a busy week of Thanksgiving trip to protest what they declare are unlivable wages.

Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots Friday to authorize the work stoppage in North Carolina, which a spokesperson said began Monday morning.

Officials with Service Employees International Union announced the impending strike in a statement early Monday, saying the workers would demand “an complete to poverty wages and regard on the job during the holiday trip period.”

ABM and Prospect Airport Services agreement with American Airlines to provide services including cleaning airplane interiors, removing trash and escorting passengers in wheelchairs.

Workers declare they previously raised the alarm about their growing inability to afford basic necessities, including food and housing. They described living paycheck to paycheck, unable to cover costs like car repairs while performing jobs that keep countless planes running on schedule.

“We’re on strike today because this is our last resort. We can’t keep living like this,” ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said in a statement. “We’re taking action because our families can’t survive.”

Several hundred workers were expected to walk off the job and continue the work stoppage throughout Monday.

Most of them earn between $12.50 and $19 an hour, which is well below the living wage for a single person with no children in the Charlotte area, union officials said.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport officials have said this holiday trip period is expected to be the busiest on record, with an estimated 1.02 million passengers departing the airport between last Thursday and the Monday after Thanksgiving.

In addition to walking off the job, striking workers schedule to hold an 11 a.m. rally and a 1 p.m. “Strikesgiving” lunch “in place of the Thanksgiving meal that many of the workers won’t be able to afford later this week,” union officials said.

“Airport service workers make holiday trip feasible by keeping airports secure, tidy, and running,” the union said. “Despite their critical role in the profits that major corporations enjoy, many airport service workers must work two to three jobs to make ends meet.”

ABM said it would receive steps to minimize disruptions from any demonstrations.

“At ABM, we appreciate the challenging work our throng members put in every day to back our clients and assist keep spaces tidy and people well,” the business said in a statement last week.

Prospect Airport Services said last week that the business recognizes the seriousness of the potential for a strike during the busy holiday trip period.