---

Workers at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport demonstrated outside the airport demanding “better wages and benefits” on the 29th. Cabin cleaners, ramp agents, and truck drivers contracted to American Airlines have been intensifying organizing efforts to improve conditions at their workplace for the past year. In May, about 500 of them unionized under the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, boasting around 1400 daily arrivals and departures. Cabin cleaners and ramp agents are expected to walk long distances, often while carrying heavy trash or luggage. In the Summer months, workers can expect to be regularly exposed to temperatures over ninety degrees. One cabin cleaner said that she had to take painkillers every day just to make it through a shift. Another worker told us that they are understaffed, causing them to have to work long hours, and frequently don’t receive breaks. 

At the rally, local union leadership along with rank-and-file were advocating for the “Good Airports Act,” a recently-proposed federal bill that would increase wages along with putting certain measures in place to attempt to improve working conditions.

While they can bring slight improvements, reforms are unreliable and can easily be reversed due to the nature of the government. Workers are correct in wanting intervention on their behalf; however, relying on pro-worker legislation (under the current system) is a dead end. The Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which has sat in the doldrums of the US Senate for years, is an example of this. Corporations, with their vast amounts of wealth accumulated off the backs of the workforce, are able to buy off politicians and lobby for laws that favor their interests, entrenching their power and giving them the ability to undermine reforms at a later date. Ultimately, the long-term solution for workers is to get organized and take collective action against their bosses.