Nearly 5,000 workers at MSP Airport are closer than they have ever been to winning a $15/hour minimum wage. They are fighting for quick passage of a minimum wage ordinance by the Metropolitan Airport Commission and then a phase-in that would allow workers to be at $15 by 2022. Spearheading the effort is the newly formed Minnesota Airport Workers Council which includes Teamsters Local 120, UNITE-HERE Local 17, SEIU Local 26, and the IAM/Delta Workers Organizing Committee. This brings together the power of thousands of workers, union and non-union, to impact working conditions and wages at MSP.
Many of these workers are also fighting for the right to form a union in their workplace. Thousands of Delta Air Lines flight attendants and ramp workers are trying to gain union representation with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and are running into ferocious opposition from the airline. Workers at Delta Global Services, who also work on Delta aircraft, are facing strong pushback from the parent company (Delta) for unionization efforts. In fact, at MSP nearly every anti-worker road leads back to Delta.
MSP regularly receives awards for customer satisfaction, and was just recently named the best U.S. airport for 2018. All of this is made possible by the thousands of workers, from baggage handlers to aircraft cleaners to wheelchair pushers, who staff MSP. This week, the tremendous skill, dedication, and service of the MSP workforce will be on full display for the world as thousands of passengers arrive in Minneapolis for the NCAA Final Four.
This is why the Airport Workers Council has chosen Thursday, April 4 at 3:30PM to demonstrate at MSP Terminal One. We will be demanding a $15/hour minimum wage for every worker at MSP. We’ll also be showing solidarity with the thousands of workers at MSP that want a union and a voice on the job. We will be gathering on the upper level outside the Terminal. Please be part of this important event and help us win $15 in the coming months.
Kip H.