Southwest Airlines is holding their annual shareholder meeting in Denver today, but they're not being met with a lot of "luv."
Airport workers from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver airports are protesting at the meeting with protest signs that play off Southwest's "Luv" branding. Signs like "Show us some LUV: health care, fair wages, union rights" are being held by protestors. Spoof versions of Southwest's drink coupons are being handed out to the public, inviting them to tell Southwest's CEO Gary Kelly that #PovertyDoesntFly.
What are these airport workers upset about? These airport workers are not employed directly by Southwest Airlines but are subcontract employees who work on Southwest Airlines flights, baggage areas and in other customer service roles. They are managed by another company, or contractors, that Southwest has hired and are upset that the contractors -- and in their opinon, Southwest to an extent -- isn't providing proper safety training and is standing in the way of fair pay, benefits, and the right to form a union.
These airport workers include baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, security officers, cabin cleaners and other service workers. It's important to note that some Skycaps and most baggage handlers are employed by Southwest Airlines directly, while some are employed by contract companies that Southwest works with at various airports.
According to SEIU, or Service Employees International Union, a labor union that fights for the rights of contracted airport workers, the problem goes back to when Southwest contracted out what was once great union jobs to companies like S.A.S. Service Group and Prospect. They claim that S.A.S. has been cited for nearly $1 million in wage theft at Los Angeles International Airport, and Prospect has asked wheelchair attendants to fill in for other staff such as by handling baggage with firearms without any safety training.
"As a wheelchair attendant, I ensure the safety and mobility of passengers navigating our busy airport," says Medina Adem. "On top of that responsibility, my coworkers and I have been forced to move oversized baggage and luggage containing firearms, jobs we were not hired to do nor trained to do. With a union, we would have a voice on the job to call for the training we need to keep Denver workers and travelers safe."
Maria Romero, a security officer at LAX, echoed Adem: "I've worked for thirteen years doing security work. But when Southwest Airlines switched our jobs to a company called S.A.S. Services, we lost our seniority and the stability of knowing what jobs we're being asked to do day to day. We even lost most of our health insurance."
She added, "This has had a big impact on my ability to afford my prescription eyeglasses, which I need to monitor security cameras. Passengers are depending on our ability to see details, so why won't they cover us to have updated eye prescriptions?"
As of now, 83 percent of Southwest employees are unionized. The remaining individuals who unable to unionize are these subcontract workers through vendors that Southwest Airlines has hired in various cities.
In a survey conducted by SEIU, they found that contracted airport employees - regardless of a specific airline - live in households that make less than $25,000 a year and more than a third are Latino, a quarter are African American, and nearly half were born outside of the U.S. While many believe that airport jobs are great jobs, being subcontracted by contractors like S.A.S. Service Group is keeping many of these employees of color and their families under the poverty line.
SEIU argues that without these airport workers, Southwest couldn't have conducted their operations, made $2.5 billion in profit last year and grown in size and routes.
Today's protestors aren't the only ones calling on Southwest to deliver a living wage, paid family health care and the right to a union for all Southwest employees regardless of their position. California lawmakers have their eye on the airline and want them to step up and do the right thing especially since they took more than $41 million in taxpayer money in 2017 from California's State Travel Program. Lawmakers argue that public funding comes with public responsibility.
"It's not acceptable for any amount of public money, let alone millions of taxpayer dollars-to be used in any way that drives down worker standards, costs employees their healthcare, pushes workers beyond their reasonable limits and increases turnover at the airport," said California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo. "We know the companies that benefit from the California Travel Program-including Southwest Airlines-can do better."
A petition has been circulated among airport workers over the last few months that asks Gary Kelly to change the airline's policy for these subcontracted workers. It should be presented at the meeting today.
In response to the protest, Southwest Airlines wanted to make clear that the protesters are not Southwest Airlines employees. These airport employees work on Southwest flights and in customer service roles at Southwest Airlines gates but are more specifically employees of a vendor that Southwest Airlines has hired.
"The Employees this labor group represents are NOT Employees of Southwest Airlines, and they do not represent Southwest Airlines," a statement that Southwest Airlines provided read.
Furthermore, the statement pointed out that their decision to hire such vendors like S.A.S. Service Group and Prospect is Southwest Airlines' right, and a move that the airline made in consideration of their customers.
The statement explained, "Southwest Airlines recently conducted a thorough RFP process to select a new contract partner to provide exceptional hospitality to Southwest's Customers. Anytime we engage in this process, we remain focused on selecting a partner that we believe will help best serve our Customers."
"We have the right to seek competitive bids for our airport contractors and to hold those contractors to the service level agreements negotiated in the contracts we have with them."
While putting their customers first may seem like a noble quality for Southwest Airlines, these airport workers want to convey that decisions to bring high-quality service to customers shouldn't be at the expense of these subcontracted airport workers' rights to a fair wage, benefits and union, especially when they assist in making Southwest Airlines so successful. Tim Maddox, an African American wheelchair attendant at LAX, who attended the Southwest shareholder meeting, perhaps said it best in an essay on Think.
He explained why it's so important that Southwest Airlines recognize and do something to help these subcontracted airport employees in the fight for their rights, as well as why it should be important to airline passengers who travel with Southwest Airlines.
"America's strength comes from people's ability to work together, regardless of race or geography. But today, greedy companies around the world are trying to divide us based on what we look like, where we come from or how much money we have," he said. "Airport workers like me won't stand for it any longer - and neither should the airline passengers who we help keep safe, clean and on time to their destinations."
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
