PHOTO: Sea-Tac Airport, where workers are currently engaged in a one-day strike. (Courtesy of Thinkstock)
Workers for Alaska Airlines contractor Menzies Aviation walked off the job at Seattle's Sea-Tac Airport this morning in an abbreviated one-day strike to draw attention to what they say are unfair labor practices.
The workers include baggage handlers, cabin cleaners and ramp workers who say they have been subject to intimidation, threats, and harassment by their employer.
The strike began at 4 a.m. (7 a.m. ET) and is expected to end at 4 p.m.
The walkout is the latest in a series of coordinated actions taken by airport workers at major origin and destination airports across the country to exercise their rights to join together to demand a $15 hourly wage and union rights.
The Menzies workers' strike comes on the heels of another work stoppage last month by airport workers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, where workers employed by airline contractors Eulen America and G2 also went on strike against their employers.
Workers at Sea-Tac allege that Menzies' policies deny them the right to contact attorneys and government officials to protect their rights, including their right to a safe workplace, and to report Menzies' failures to comply with the law; prohibit workers from criticizing in public and in the media actions by the company in failing to pay their workers a wage of $15 per hour; and that the company has engaged in actions subjecting workers to surveillance by company supervisors and security agents while workers attempt to peacefully exercise their right to speak out on working conditions including their right to be paid $15 per hour.
Menzies declined to comment.
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