EUROPEAN TRANSPORT WORKERS FEDERATION: European airlines on notice: unions to demand action over reports of labour abuses in Flying Food Group supply chain
Aviation trade unions in Europe have committed to mobilising in support of over 1,000 Flying Food Group workers at SFO and LAX airports. At this week’s Section meeting, the ETF’s Civil Aviation Section passed a resolution after hearing from FFG workers and their union, UNITE HERE, to support their five-year struggle for a collective bargaining agreement. FFG workers provide catering services to numerous European carriers at LAX and SFO airports and are a critical part of their supply chains.
98% of Private Suite workers voted YES to ratify their first union contract
Private Suite workers at LAX ratified a historic new contract that will give them $15 i raises over three years. By the end of the contract salaries for all 150 workers will be around $40-$50 an hour. Workers also won health care, pension, and tipped workers will be able to keep their tips that sometimes can be up to $1,500 in one day! Wow!
REPORT OF LOS ANGELES TRUTH COMMISSION ON LABOR ABUSES AT FLYING FOOD GROUP (LAX)
“What is happening at Flying Food Group is not a series of isolated incidents. It is a deeply rooted pattern of worker mistreatment and neglect. After hearing directly from employees, I am appalled by reports of unsafe and unhealthy working conditions that put workers’ lives at risk every single day. From serious fire safety violations to ongoing physical hazards across kitchen, transportation, and warehouse operations, workers are being forced to choose between earning a paycheck and protecting their own safety. No worker should ever have to report to a job where they fear being trapped in a cooler during a fire or losing access to basic healthcare without warning.” Click here for the full report.
LAX STANDARDS: Assessing Flying Food Group LLC’s Labor Practices Under Intyernational Labor Standards
“International labor standards also apply to safety and health, non-discrimination, and living wage requirements. They require policies to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses “by minimizing…the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment.” They proscribe discrimination in employment “on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin” as well as sexual harassment in the workplace. They define a living wage as “the wage level that is necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families.” The report details complaints and cases related to these international labor standards. State authorities have cited FFG for multiple violations of safety and health regulations, and instances of two recent workplace fires within a four- month period are currently under investigation. FFG has also had to pay more than $1 million in back pay to workers for violation of the Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance and laws on job and wage protection for Covid-displaced workers.” Click here to read the full report.
CREWS LAX is told to pay workers over a million dollars in retro pay
After nearly 2 years of arbitration, Crews at LAX has been ordered to pay over $1 million to its employees in backpay. According to the contract ordered by the Arbitrator Crews workers wages will rise significantly along with their benefit contributions. Thanks to the perseverance and determination of these workers in their fight for justice and fair wages, they will now benefit from their two year long struggle.
MEET WORKER LEADER LUCIAN RAIU
Lucian is a leader who worked at Private Suites, a private terminal in LAX. He began organizing his coworkers to unionize in order to improve their working conditions and gain transparency regarding their tips. Lucian was subsequently fired. Instead of being discouraged, he felt even more empowered and continued organizing outside of work. Thanks to his leadership, nearly 100 new members were unionized. Lucian didn’t stop there and began working for the union as an organizer to unionize a second group of workers that the company refused to recognize. Thanks to his persistence and determination, the company has now agreed to recognize this second group of workers. Bravo, Lucian!
LAX Airport Workers Rally as LA City Council President Attempts to Lower Wages and Give Break to Airlines
In a shameful move, Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson introduced legislation to take money from hard-working Angelenos and give the trillion-dollar airline industry a break
Airport workers at LAX who are members of SEIU-United Service Workers West and UNITE HERE Local 11 are sounding the alarm after Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson introduced a motion to substantially weaken the Olympic Wage Ordinance, which was passed by the City Council in May and survived a failed referendum effort paid for by airlines and hotel corporations.
Under the existing law, tourism workers are on track to reach $30 an hour by 2028, a long-overdue wage that reflects the high cost of living in Los Angeles and the essential work LAX workers do to keep our region’s economy running. Harris-Dawson’s new motion would delay those increases until 2030, effectively taking money out of workers’ pockets with the lowest paid full-time workers without health coverage losing nearly $35,000 as a result of the proposed shift and handing it back to billion-dollar airline corporations, while the airline industry is expected to surpass $1 trillion for the first time ever, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s financial projections. The motion also proposes creating major loopholes that would result in even further losses of healthcare and wages to airport workers and exclude hotel restaurant workers.
Workers call the move unprecedented, shameful, and a betrayal of the commitments the City made to the people who keep LAX running. Airport workers, many of whom struggled through the pandemic and continue to face compounding crises of rising rents, food prices, and transportation costs, are demanding that Council President Harris-Dawson immediately withdraw the motion, and that Mayor Karen Bass publicly affirm that she stands with airport workers, not corporate airlines.
FOX 11: Airline catering workers stage protest near LAX
Hundreds of airline catering workers shut down a major entrance to LAX on Monday, blocking Century Boulevard and forcing some travelers to abandon vehicles and walk during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.
Workers allege unsafe working conditions, broken equipment, locked doors that create fire hazards, and unfair wages. According to union leaders representing the LAX airline catering workers, the demonstration is part of the push to “hold Flying Food Group accountable.”
Thanksgiving Travel Alert: Hundreds of LAX Airline Catering Workers Call on City of L.A. to Hold Serial Lawbreaker Flying Food Accountable
Workers submit CalOSHA complaints alleging unsafe working conditions at Flying Food Group; company has previously been cited for safety and minimum wage violations
As tens of thousands of flights were scheduled out of LAX for the Thanksgiving holiday on Tuesday, the workers who prepare, package & deliver meals onto some of those flights called on the City of Los Angeles to hold Flying Food Group accountable for how it treats workers.
Flying Food Group operates with a city license to supply food for airlines like Air France, Lufthansa, Japan Airlines & Hawaiian Airlines. Los Angeles law requires that its licensees follow laws that protect workers & the public as a condition of maintaining a license.
Workers have repeatedly brought a number of problems to the attention of city authorities, but the mayor-appointed leaders of Los Angeles World Airports have failed to take meaningful action to enforce the City’s requirements for its licensees with respect to Flying Food Group.
Five different government agencies have issued citations or complaints against Flying Food Group over the last several years, including:
- Cal/OSHA issued a citation against Flying Food Group for five worker safety violations, including a “serious violation” for bolting shut an emergency door from the outside.
- The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Contract Administration has issued six citations against Flying Food Group and its subcontractors for violations of the minimum wage.
- The California Labor Commissioner issued a citation for violations of the state’s Right-of-Recall law affecting more than a dozen workers.
- The California Highway Patrol issued a citation against the company for five public safety violations.
Multiple women have alleged they experienced sexual harassment on the job in pending complaints with California’s anti-discrimination agency, and most recently, Flying Food Group workers filed complaints with Cal/OSHA alleging they have seen a variety of health and safety problems, including the following:
- Apparent fire alarm malfunctions related to an industrial dishwasher that sparked an electrical fire
- Chemical burns due to insufficient protective gear and understaffing
- Burst overhead pipes that doused workers and food products with water
- Flooded workspaces that do not drain in heavily trafficked areas
- Large transportation vehicles that operate on the airport tarmac with frequent maintenance and safety issues, such as a smashed tail light, a nonfunctional horn, a severely warped loading step, broken side view mirrors, and unusable seatbelts;
- Hydraulic lift breakdowns on the tarmac
- An overloaded warehouse with allegedly obstructed exits, fire extinguishers, and fire sprinklers.
