LAX service workers will hold strike authorization vote

A union representing 2,500 service workers at Los Angeles International Airport will vote Wednesday on whether to authorize a strike, , union representatives say.

Airport Workers United, the SEIU Local 1877, has been negotiating since May with nine contractors that serve several major airlines, including American, United and Southwest.

Union leaders say the contractors are using unfair labor practices by failing to negotiate in good faith and by threatening workers who support the union.

Union members include service workers employed at both the airport terminals and on planes. Their jobs include security, wheelchair assistance, and airplane cabin cleaning. The union is pushing for higher wages, improved medical coverage and more training, equipment and staff support, said Mike Chavez, a spokesman for the union.

Chavez said although workers are employed by contractors, the responsibility lies with the airlines that hire the contractors.

“The airlines need to take some leadership,” he said. “They have a role in saying what their contractors should be doing.”

Spokesmen for Southwest and United airlines could not be reached for comment.

The union hopes to avoid a strike even if it authorizes one, Chavez said.

“We’re hoping the employers don’t push to that point,” he said. “But if that’s what it comes to, we really need to do what we can to call attention to these conditions.”

The contractors are G2 Secure Staff, Air Serv, Aviation Safeguards, Aero Port Services, Service Performance, American Building Maintenance, Lee’s Maintenance, World Service and One Source.

joanna.lin@latimes.com