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Home » News » Mass Arrests Across USA As Airport Catering Strikes Bring Civil Unrest
News

Mass Arrests Across USA As Airport Catering Strikes Bring Civil Unrest

Matthew Klint Posted onNovember 27, 2019November 14, 2023 35 Comments

a man in an orange vest standing next to an airplane

Catering workers are being arrested at airports across the United States as they protest for higher wages and benefits.

A nationwide series of strikes and sit-ins have blocked traffic and terminals at airports across the nation. Arrests have been mounting at airports including:

  • Charlotte
  • Chicago (ORD)
  • Dallas
  • Denver
  • Detroit
  • Honolulu
  • Houston (IAH)
  • Los Angeles
  • Miami
  • Minneapolis
  • Newark
  • New York (JFK)
  • Philadelphia
  • Phoenix
  • San Diego
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Washington (DCA)

The strike is being spearheaded by the Unite Here labor union, which represents thousands of airport caterers.

Unite Here argues that while airlines have enjoyed record profits, catering workers have been left behind. The union is demanding higher wages, more generous health benefits, and better working conditions.

The protest at 18 airports comes as national mediators sit down with both sides in an attempt to hammer out a compromise.

Nancy Jewell, a spokesperson for Gate Gourmet told CNBC:

Gate Gourmet has made significant improvements for our people in wages and benefits across the U.S. and our negotiations with the union to date include additional investments in our people.

In the meantime, we operate under the Railway Labor Act, which preserves the current terms and conditions of our existing National Master Agreement labor contract and prevents operational disruptions. As always, we remain focused on excellent service to our airline customers and the passengers they serve.

I’m not sure the “our people” line twice in the same sentence will endear Gate Gourmet to its workers.

Airlines (Try To) Steer Clear

Airlines, which generally do not employee catering workers directly, are trying to steer clear of the conflict. For example, an American Airlines spokesperson said:

We understand that new labor contracts between Unite Here and LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet will result in increased costs for their many airline customers, including American.

We are not in a position to control the outcome of their negotiations or dictate what wages or benefits are agreed upon between the catering companies and their employees.

This is a typical airline response.

But catering workers are particularly angry about this sort of messaging, pointing to record airline profits and a failure of those profits to trickle down into the pockets of contract workers.

That’s why D. Taylor, the president of Unite Here union, is keeping the message on airlines:

God bless the big three airline companies, but our folks live in poverty. Catering workers work in large industrial kitchens and are often invisible.

They work in cold damp places in the winters of Minneapolis and hot places in summer in Phoenix. They are predominantly female and people of color. We’re trying to get airlines to recognize that and lift up their standard of living.

CONCLUSION

Be advised if you are traveling from any of the airports listed above this week that you may face additional delays. Last night, 60 catering workers were arrested at JFK for blocking the road leading to Terminal 8. Similar arrests have been made across the country.

Are you in support of airlines catering workers? Are you willing to pay more for your tickets so they enjoy a higher wage?

> Read More: FAQs About The Looming Airline Catering Strike

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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35 Comments

  1. Gene Reply
    November 27, 2019 at 1:32 pm

    @ Matthew — Good for them. I hope they vote come November 2020.

    • Matthew Reply
      November 27, 2019 at 1:37 pm

      Whether Trump or Buttigieg, I look forward to seeing you and FCQ in Washington in January 2021!

  2. Andy K Reply
    November 27, 2019 at 1:50 pm

    Do the catering workers also want to share in the losses of the airline during slimmer times?

    • James Reply
      November 28, 2019 at 9:51 am

      Never! If you are rich, that’s because of us! Don’t question why or how! Just give us your money, you scumbag filthy rich animal!

      If you experience any loss, sorry. Not our problem.

  3. Gene Reply
    November 27, 2019 at 1:51 pm

    @ Matthew — Buttigieg? As much as I would love to see him elected, it ain’t happening. He polls ZERO with African Americans. If he gets nominated, Trump will be re-elected.

    If Trump is re-elected, we may break our streak of inaugurations. I just don’t think I can stomach it, unless of course we can get the Willard on points. 🙂

    • Matthew Reply
      November 27, 2019 at 1:58 pm

      Does FCQ like him? I think he will warm up to all voters and poses the greatest threat to the incumbent.

      • Gene Reply
        November 27, 2019 at 2:14 pm

        @ Matthew — Not as much as I, but he will come around. We will be voting even if we have to stand in line for days, and it will be for the Democratic nominee, no matter who it is.

        • John Reply
          December 5, 2019 at 10:20 am

          And the economy will tank.

  4. tim Reply
    November 27, 2019 at 2:09 pm

    You can’t be serious with this title

    • Matthew Reply
      November 27, 2019 at 2:15 pm

      Yes, I am. 60+ at JFK, 40+ at PHL, 30+ at LAX and SFO. That’s hardly a small number.

      • John Reply
        December 5, 2019 at 2:58 pm

        It’s hardly “civil unrest” despite the numbers.

  5. Sad State of Our Country Reply
    November 27, 2019 at 2:16 pm

    @andyk – do airline executives share the airline losses (give their salaries back) during slimmer times? Even though they are a lot more responsible for their (under)performance?

    This is the most imbecilic thing I read in a while. A true trump voter which I doubt is benefiting in any way like his rich friends are.

    • Andy K Reply
      November 27, 2019 at 2:51 pm

      Airline executives do get paid less when airlines perform poorly – sounds like you have never read a proxy statement. No, they don’t give their salaries back and neither should caterers. I’m simply asking a logical question that follows from the basic argument that the caterers are making. Funny, you even indirectly admit in your comment that caterers are not really responsible for the performance of an airline (you blame the execs), so I guess you don’t think they should benefit from the airline profits either?

      Perhaps it is more fruitful to have an objective discussion of what these people want. $15 per hour living wage? Many cities with major hubs (LAX, SFO, JFK, MSP) (and thus major catering operations) have adopted this. Working in cold or hot environments? Cry me a river, this is hardly unique to catering. Majority women and minority? Isn’t employment of previously marginalized persons a good thing? A lot of whining going on here.

  6. WR2 Reply
    November 27, 2019 at 2:29 pm

    Why should anyone be bullied into paying you more than what the free market dictates? If you don’t like your job then you are free to go find a new one. If you don’t have any other skills then you are free to go get more education and training. You are not entitled to the airlines’ profits.

    • AR Reply
      November 27, 2019 at 3:57 pm

      That’s essentially what they’re doing – adjusting the free market. By striking, they’re creating a financial hardship on LSG and Gate Gourmet – through various direct and indirect methods. The CBA of hiring and training all new people versus the CBA of providing a higher wage will set a new free market standard. I’d argue that it’s not “bullying” as LSG and Gate Courmet are free to hire new workers.

      In fact, the whole scenario could be turned around and we could just say to LSG and Gate Gourmet “Why should anyone be bullied into receiving lower wages? If you don’t want to pay hire wages, you can just fire everyone, deal with defaulting on contracts with airlines, get sued, maybe hire more workers if you’re still in business, then train them all up, and attempt to re-compete for new contracts.”

      To be clear, I’m fairly opposed to unions as a general rule and I’ve super oversimplified the intricacies involved, but your comment is asinine and I have some time on my hands.

      • Joseph N. Reply
        November 28, 2019 at 1:27 pm

        What is “asinine” about telling workers who do not like their job to go get a new one? Seems logical to me.

        If my daughter did not like her boyfriend, I would not tell her it is ok to cheat on him. I’d tell her to break up with him and find a better boyfriend.

        Striking is part of the free market. so is replacing the strikers with scabs, which is what is going to happen.

        • AR Reply
          November 28, 2019 at 2:07 pm

          That’s precisely my point. They’re both aspects of the free market, so claiming that strikers are somehow in the wrong or “bullying” a corporation into paying higher wages is, in fact, asinine.

    • John Reply
      December 5, 2019 at 2:59 pm

      Well said!

  7. ghostrider5408 Reply
    November 27, 2019 at 4:10 pm

    Why do we have to inject politic’s into this conversation, unless of course some have their own agenda’s ? It seems to be with elections almost a year off we are taking sides here? Let’s stay on point,.

    As for the unions, as a union contractor I am very familiar with they think and work. Profits are high economy is well ( no politic’s here ) One needs to look deep into the breakdown of a union contract and see how much money goes to the union coffers its frankly disgusting. Equally is how the unions spin certain aspects of their contracts cost of living etc. Those benefits are shared by a small margin of people in this country union or not. Pull the contract breakdown of housekeeping in Hawaii, go past the “in the check” pay

    I do believe in a “living wage” however what I object to is how that is calculated with varying swings in numbers. Why not make it a national referendum?

    Happy Thanksgiving to all and safe travels

    • John Reply
      December 5, 2019 at 3:02 pm

      Exactly! This is business and not politics. Trump is not involved in this in any manner other than producing the booming economy.

  8. Chris S Reply
    November 28, 2019 at 12:20 am

    Catering workers used to be employed directly by airlines. Then came outsourcing. Gate Gourmet has its roots in the old Swissair. LSG is in the Lufthansa group. The same jobs were paid less. Often, the options workers face are grim. This is a very vulnerable group which deserves support.

    • James Reply
      November 28, 2019 at 9:47 am

      Used to be. Is it past perfect? Maybe the protester need to ride DeLorean priorly….

  9. James Reply
    November 28, 2019 at 7:41 am

    Classic social jealousy. You seems rich. Give me some of that money! If you don’t I’ll make your life miserable….

    Well, the catering company have contract with airlines. They can’t arbitrarily change pricing just because some monkeys demand more bananas…

    Should they failed to provide service, they might incur some penalties. Forget a raise, monkeys even lose their bonuses for covering up penalties!

    Then again, some stupid politicians or smart ass commenter here might try to support monkeys for their own agenda.

    • Adil Reply
      November 28, 2019 at 8:03 am

      … just because some monkeys demand more bananas…

      …monkeys even lose their bonuses for covering up penalties!

      … to support monkeys for their own agenda.

      Monkeys?

      • James Reply
        November 28, 2019 at 9:45 am

        Sorry…. Did I offend the monkeys?

        • Adil Reply
          November 28, 2019 at 5:47 pm

          Poor little James. Reading his 3 comments one can only conclude he believes civility is unnecessary….or perhaps today was a bad day and James decided to release his anger in misspelled, grammatically incorrect comments 🙂

          • James
            November 28, 2019 at 7:36 pm

            Civility to monkeys? Just give them bananas ffs….

            Then again, thanks for pointing out my last paragraph. Hahaha. Bait bitten.

    • debit Reply
      November 28, 2019 at 12:00 pm

      What an idiot.

      They ate striking. They have a legal right to strike.

      • John Reply
        December 5, 2019 at 3:07 pm

        No they don’t – that’s why they are getting arrested.

    • Bobo Reply
      December 1, 2019 at 6:06 pm

      Monkeys. You are a POS…

  10. Paolo Reply
    November 30, 2019 at 10:33 am

    No one is going to begrudge an extra couple of bucks per ticket to give the catering staff a living wage. I’d make the same claim for hotel cleaning staff, so that they’re not forced to become de facto beggars via those obscene tipping envelopes ( although in both cases the money should rightly come from the salaries of the fat-cat, high-on-the-hog, blood-sucking executives rather than travelers ( but that’s not going to happen, sadly).

  11. EdSparks Reply
    December 4, 2019 at 10:00 am

    There appears to be some sort of disconnect here: I fly American a HUGE amount of time (although, in 2020 I am changing that dramatically – even with nearly 300,000 EQMs and about $55,000 spent in 2019, I am still a lowly Executive Platinum, as I watch the very few remaining goodies and earliest boarding slots dished out to their “Pampered Poodle” Concierge Key). Even on their international flights (and I have nearly 10 in 2019, always Business or First Class) the food is AWFUL. American makes a profit, plays dreadfully low prices for the foods that they purchase (which makes the food of simply awful quality), and as a consequence the LSG company pays dreadful wages to their employees. The employees lose. LSG loses. I (a passenger) lose. About the only ones winning are Douggie and his team from U.S. Scare/America’s Worst Airlines …
    Sad.
    EdSparks

  12. Bryan Reply
    December 4, 2019 at 11:50 am

    Wait, they are a service to all the airlines, so basically they are striking because of poor contract negotiations?

    They sell a service to the airlines, according to the article they do not work for the airlines.

    So raise the prices the next round of negotiations! Let the airline choose who they want to cater their planes.

    Bet you it’s a non-union shop with more efficiency.

    • John Reply
      December 5, 2019 at 3:08 pm

      Well said

  13. Pingback: Hundreds of airport catering workers arrested during Tuesday protests at airports across the nation – Fox News – vlogger youtubers earnings buy subscriber

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