QUEENS, NY, May 30 — Dozens of airport workers rallied today outside JFK’s terminal 4 while officials and Delta employees celebrated the grand opening of the airline’s new JFK Airport gateway. The protesters were calling on airlines and airport service companies for an increase in wages and benefits, more job security and better treatment. The workers, who mainly work for companies subcontracted by Delta for terminal operations, marched outside the building, where several hundred feet away, officials and executives were gathering for its official opening.
The workers are predominantly black and Latino and are victimized by the racism of the companies that expect to get away with substandard conditions.
The protest was also directed against other airlines receiving subsidies or tax breaks for doing work at JFK and LaGuardia airports. This includes American Airlines, which received $1.2 billion in bonds from the NYC Industrial Development Agency, a wing of the Economic Development Corporation, for construction of a new JFK terminal. JetBlue, Air France, Korean Air Lines and Lufthansa also received over $400 million collectively in subsidies for work at Terminal 1.
“Companies at the airport get billions,” said Terminal 4 security worker Mohamed, but “people like me, low-wage subcontracted airport service workers, continue to struggle to get by on wages as low as $8 an hour with no meaningful benefits.”
Jamaica resident Jackson, a security officer for Air Serv who has worked in Delta’s terminal for more than three years, said he’s tired of being told there isn’t enough money for raises or benefits while billion-dollar terminals are constructed. “We haven’t received a single pay raise since I started,” he said. “We work full-time and still wonder if we make enough to pay the bills. This is no way to live. The problem is Delta received millions of dollars in tax subsidies to expand Terminal 4, but at the same time, we’re told there isn’t enough money for raises or benefits. There’s enough money.”
Jackson says some employees who worked in Terminal 3, Delta’s former facility that closed last Friday, don’t know if or when they will move to Terminal 4.
The racist, sexist exploitation of these airport workers is a clear example of how the capitalist system operates and of the necessity to overthrow it to create a communist society free of bosses and profits.