To protest what they say are unlivable wages, services workers at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport have gone on strike during what the TSA expects to be the busiest Thanksgiving travel week ever.
Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast their ballots on Friday to authorize a work stoppage in North Carolina, according to a spokesperson who shared the news of the strike, which began Monday morning, with The Associated Press.
The Service Employees International Union also released a statement on the strike on Monday, saying workers are demanding “an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season.”
The strike is sure to throw a wrench into a busy travel period, as the Charlotte Douglas International Airport said in a news release it expected around 1.02 million passengers to depart from its runways between the Thursday and Monday before the holiday.
Throughout the country, AAA estimates that 79.5 million people will be traveling more than 50 miles this Thanksgiving.
ABM and Prospect Airport Services are contracted by American Airlines to provide services at the airport. This includes cleaning airplane interiors, removing trash, and escorting passengers in wheelchairs to their flights from security.
Before going on strike, workers say they had brought their pay and struggles to afford basic necessities to their employers. They said they were living paycheck to paycheck and couldn’t afford basic expenses.
“We’re on strike today because this is our last resort. We can’t keep living like this,” ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said in a statement. “We’re taking action because our families can’t survive.”
The strike and work stoppage is expected to continue throughout Monday, with several hundred workers walking off the job. The wages for those striking are mostly between $12.50 and $19 an hour, union officials shared.
“Airport service workers make holiday travel possible by keeping airports safe, clean, and running,” the union said. “Despite their critical role in the profits that major corporations enjoy, many airport service workers must work two to three jobs to make ends meet.”