No Strike After JFK, LaGuardia Airport Workers Reach Deal
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A walkout among some baggage handlers, security guards and other workers at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports has been averted after the subcontractor they work for reached a deal with the union that seeks to represent them.
Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union said Wednesday that contractor Aviation Safeguards has agreed to be neutral regarding union representation for its employees at the two airports.
Aviation Safeguard's parent company, Herndon, Virginia-based Command Security Corp., said its employees "will be guaranteed a peaceful environment in which to make this decision.''
No Strike After JFK, LaGuardia Airport Workers Reach Deal
"We have won today a significant step forward the right to bargain, sit down with the company and improve our jobs and our lives," Union president Hector Figueroa said.
There's still no deal on wages and benefits, but union leaders said this is a big first step, WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported.
The union said earlier that as many as 1,200 workers would walk off the job Wednesday night at JFK and Thursday morning at LaGuardia.
The workers say they are seeking a $15 an hour minimum wage.
"They've been living in poverty," Figueroa told WCBS 880 Tuesday. "They're not being listened to. And this has to end."
Local 32BJ said Wednesday that negotiations for a union contract are expected to begin in the fall.
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