Five arrested after rally outside Charlotte-Douglas airport
Airline service workers were rallying for better pay and improved working conditions Tuesday.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Charlotte-Mecklenburg police confirm five people were arrested after a rally outside the Charlotte-Douglas Airport.
The group blocked cars attempting to turn into the airport along North Josh Birmingham Parkway and Wilkinson Boulevard.
The move comes after hundreds of airport service workers rallied for better pay and working conditions Tuesday afternoon.
These are the people who clean planes, tidy the airport, provide food, and handle baggage.
They say they’ve had no luck with the airlines or local government, so they’re now asking Congress to grant them higher wages, better healthcare, and paid time off.
They petitioned to be included in the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, funding. The deadline for Congress to fund the FAA is September 30.
This is as airport employees face high heat, high demand for air travel, and not enough pay, they say.
“These airlines are making billions of dollars we have people living in poverty,” said Chris Baumann, a regional director for Workers United.
“We have folks who are homeless working at the airport.”
“Our Charlotte airport makes a lot of money and they’re not giving it to the workers at all,” added a union member, Lashonda Barber.
“I want Congress to open up their eyes and realize we are the airport. We are what makes the airport run.”
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