Striking airplane-cabin cleaners for a Delta Air Lines Inc. contractor at New York’s LaGuardia Airport agreed to return to work after state officials said they would investigate complaints about working conditions.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, agreed to review concerns raised by Air Serv Corp. cleaning personnel and is “pleased they will be returning to their jobs,” according to a Port Authority statement today.
About 35 workers walked off their jobs at 9:30 p.m. yesterday and another 40 early today, said Elaine Kim of the Service Employees International Union, which is seeking to represent the workers.
“The goal today was to shine a light on the health and safety violations Air Serv workers face in order to protect themselves and keep airplanes safe and clean,” the union said in a statement. “They accomplished that together today, and look forward to the Port Authority reviewing and those responsible remedying the situation.”
Union officials sought to tie their complaints about working conditions to fears about the spread of Ebola, although Kim said that plans for the walk out were set before the outbreak. The airport is not one of the five U.S. facilities that handle most travelers from the nations stricken by Ebola and were designated yesterday for enhanced screening.
The employees of Air Serv said conditions in general are unsafe, citing freezing temperatures, sweltering heat and gloves that tear too easily, exposing workers to potential hazards, including the Ebola virus, said Amity Paye, a spokeswoman for the union.
Cleaning Bathrooms
“The workers are really worried because they tend to be exposed to bodily fluids,” including by cleaning out bathrooms on airplanes, Paye said.
The union held a training session on proper cleaning techniques for the workers today in conjunction with the labor action, Kim said.
The Air Serv workers have voted to join the SEIU. The labor group is trying to force negotiations with the company, a part of ABM Industries Inc., to increase pay and provide more safety training and equipment, Kim said.
The strike involved cabin cleaners at Atlanta-based Air Serv working in LaGuardia’s Terminal D, which is used by Delta.
“Air Serv trains its cabin cleaners in its long-standing safety procedures and cleaning protocols including for blood- borne pathogens,” Chas Strong, a spokesman, said by e-mail. That included an update last week on Ebola protocols, he said.
Strong declined to comment on the organizing campaign.
‘Safe, Lawful’
Ashley Black, a Delta spokeswoman, said earlier that Air Serv employees who walked out were replaced by Delta employees and other contractors. The strike didn’t cause delays or flight cancellations, she said.
“We are confident our contractors are focused on providing a safe, lawful and appropriate work environment for their employees,” Delta said in a e-mail.
Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that runs the airport, said airlines are required to meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration and local and state worker safety laws. He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given airports and airlines guidance for personnel who clean planes and airport facilities.
LaGuardia aircraft cleaners probably have less exposure to Ebola risk than workers at other international airports, because the airport primarily serves the domestic market and Canada and the Caribbean.
OSHA Complaint
Air Serv workers have filed a complaint with OSHA citing, among other issues, the company’s reduction in the time allotted for cleaning planes to as short as five minutes rather than as long as 45 minutes.
Workers also said Air Serv doesn’t provide gloves thick enough to prevent infection and doesn’t replace uniforms that become soiled by human waste during cleaning of aircraft lavatories.
Paye said the Ebola outbreak has added to concerns about working conditions.
The current outbreak of Ebola has killed more than 3,800 people in West Africa. While there has been only one case of someone being diagnosed with the disease in the U.S., the government has begun screening travelers arriving from three of the African nations hardest hit by the viral outbreak.
The government this weekend will begin checking the temperatures and health histories of passengers who began their travel in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport. Next week they will expand the new procedures to Washington Dulles, Newark Liberty, Chicago O’Hare and Atlanta Hartsfield.
Those airports account for 94 percent of the passengers from the three African nations.