CWA Calls on Congress to Create Good Jobs for Airport Workers

Last week, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. joined fellow union presidents, airport service workers, and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) for a press conference to demand Congress include the Good Jobs for Good Airports (GJGA) bill as an amendment to the larger FAA reauthorization bill. The bill would establish federal minimum standards for pay, benefits, and working conditions for all essential airport service and passenger service workers, who currently have none.

For CWA’s 20,000 represented passenger service workers, the GJGA would help bridge the pay gap between regional and mainline workers by setting wage minimums based on the airport’s location. It would mean that our skilled workforce can afford to live where they work.

“Airport workers kept our economy moving and our flights in the air, despite the risks, all while being overworked and underpaid,” said President Cummings. “It is time to make sure that our frontline aviation workers get compensated fairly for all they do to make our transportation system work.”

Following the press conference, the GJGA amendment was withdrawn from the FAA reauthorization bill, but advocacy from union leaders resulted in an amendment to require the Comptroller General conduct an "analysis of the airport service workforce and its impact and importance to the aviation economy." CWA passenger service agents and AFA-CWA Flight Attendants are urging Congress to pass the FAA reauthorization bill before its current extension expires on March 8.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.