By L.M. SIXEL, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
A MESSAGE FOR TRAVELERS: Maria Xiguin gives a hug to Martina Grifaldo as they and others call attention to the wage complaints of service workers Wednesday at Greens Road and JFK Boulevard at the entrance to Bush Intercontinental Airport. Support workers drive courtesy carts and push wheelchairs at the airport. Grifaldo is a service worker there. Photo: Michael Paulsen / © 2011 Houston Chronicle
Holiday travelers arriving at Bush Intercontinental Airport were greeted Wednesday afternoon by about 50 protesters trying to draw attention to labor complaints there.
The protesters, who took over four medians on JFK Boulevard heading into IAH, sought to highlight the wage complaints of employees who work for PrimeFlight Aviation Services and Huntleigh USA. Carrying signs that read “we are the 99 percent,” and “justice for airport workers,” the protesters chanted with the help of portable sound systems.
The Service Employees International Union is trying to organize workers at both companies and sponsored the protest on Wednesday, one of the busiest travel days of the year.
Officials of PrimeFlight and Huntleigh did not return calls for comment.
PrimeFlight employees assist passengers as wheelchair attendants and electric cart drivers, and receive a base wage of $5.25 to $6.35 an hour. Some current and former employees contend they are required to report tips they don’t receive to bring them up to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
The Gulf Coast Workforce Board recently suspended PrimeFlight from a state hiring incentive program amid a probe into the employees’ allegations.
SEIU also has launched an organizing drive at Huntleigh, which provides assistance to disabled passengers as well as airplane cabin cleaning, baggage handling and security services. About 180 Hunt-leigh employees work at the airport, and most earn the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, the union said.
More than half of the employees have complained of paycheck errors, union spokeswoman Izabela Miltko said. Several employees have been terminated when they’ve complained about the missing money, she said.