Hundreds of MIA Airline Catering Workers to March for a Living Wage

Sky Chefs workers sound the alarm for South Florida workers’ economic crisis, call for a $20 minimum wage.

WHO: 200 airline catering workers who prepare in-flight food and beverage for companies including American Airlines at LSG Sky Chefs with the UNITE HERE Local 355 union and allies.

WHAT: March and press conference

WHERE: 3500 NW 24th St, Miami, FL 33142

WHEN: Wednesday, October 11 at 3:00 pm

WHY: Hundreds of Miami International Airport (MIA) airline catering workers will march outside their workplace at LSG Sky Chefs for higher wages on Wednesday, saying they can’t keep up with Miami’s expensive cost of living. This week, the County living wage for thousands of covered airport workers increased to $20.34 – but for Sky Chefs, the minimum is just $14.00. Airline catering workers prepare, pack, and deliver food and beverages served aboard flights for American Airlines and other major U.S. airlines. Two-thirds of the food and drink on board flights departing from MIA are prepared by airline catering workers at Sky Chefs. Though their work is essential to airline operations, the median wage for a worker at the catering contractor LSG Sky Chefs is $16 per hour. Workers are calling for an immediate raise to $20 per hour.

As strikes break out across the country, the airline catering workers’ union UNITE HERE Local 355 says that these workers are putting a face to what the fight looks like in Miami-Dade. Sky Chefs workers voted by 99% to authorize a strike at any time. While hospitality workers are going through economic crisis, –they’re marching to call attention to the crisis. Their union says that airline catering workers are often invisible to travelers, but flights cannot depart on time without them.

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UNITE HERE Local 355 is the hospitality workers’ union in South Florida, representing 6,000 workers in hotels, airports, restaurant, stadiums, and casinos.

 

Crowded Spring Break Presents Pandemic Risk—Hospitality Workers Union Launches National Effort to Register Laid-Off Workers for Health Care Coverage through the American Rescue Plan

MEDIA ADVISORY for Thursday, March 25

MJ Leira [email protected] (917) 565-7697

WHO: UNITE HERE Local 355 laid-off hospitality workers alongside community allies.

WHAT: National launch to register workers for 100% COBRA coverage under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

WHERE: Diplomat Beach Resort, 3555 S Ocean Dr, Hollywood, FL 33019.

WHEN: Thursday, March 25 at 10:30 am. RSVP Here.

 WHY:

Spring break has put Floridians at greater risk across the State. Hollywood Beach’s laid-off hotel workers are eager to receive health care coverage to stay protected during this pandemic.

South Florida’s hospitality workers Union, UNITE HERE Local 355, will launch a COBRA health care registration program included in President Biden’s Relief Plan. The 100% COBRA subsidy in the American Rescue Plan means that laid off Americans will have the option to extend their workplace healthcare insurance for free for six months. As the Diplomat Beach Resort makes its plans to reopen, its nearly 650 union employees have been cut from their employer-paid health insurance.

Hotel housekeepers, servers, cooks, and bartenders at the Diplomat Beach Resort faced layoffs at the peak of the shutdowns and as a result hundreds of families were cut from their health care coverage, disproportionately affecting Black and Latinx workers. Now these workers are demanding guarantees that they will be brought back to work as the business comes back.

During the presidential election, 300 UNITE HERE Florida laid-off hospitality workers knocked on over 450,000 doors statewide to elect President Biden. They then went on to Georgia to join Stacey Abrams and others to take back the Senate, knocking on over 1.5 million doors to win transformative relief for workers and their families.