Charlotte airport workers urge cool for the hottest jobs

Workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport want American Airlines and one of its service providers to protect them from extreme heat.

Service workers at ABM gathered outside the airport Tuesday as part of “Heat Week,” a national initiative by workers to demand protections against heat-related illness. The Charlotte workers – many of whom are tasked with cleaning airplane cabins, moving customers in wheelchairs and handling baggage – allege the company doesn’t provide basic access to water, cool break rooms and other basics to make the workplace safe from high temperatures.

Heat Week was organized by Service Employees International Union International.

The workers allege management ignored their requests for regular access to water and cooled breakrooms when the heat index has climbed to 126 degrees. Cabin cleaners also cited dangerous scheduling that result in workers rushing between planes without water or cooling breaks.

“Water is requested multiple times daily by cabin cleaners, leads, concourse lead, and access control agents,” ABM cabin cleaner Katelyn Medders, said in July, “but management just responds with ‘no water is available, and we’ll let you know when we got it.’”

Charlotte airport workers have taken air carriers to task about the unfair work environment and poverty level wages, even going on strike before Memorial Day weekend, to demand airline service providers commit to respecting, protecting and paying a fair wage.

Ahead of American’s shareholder meeting, Charlotte workers gathered outside the airport to demand higher wages, the right to form a union and end policies that trap Black, brown and immigrant workers in low-paying jobs.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration last month proposed standards that would require employers to identify heat hazards, develop heat illness and emergency response plans and train employees and supervisors for such incidents. The rules would initiative standards for rest breaks, access to shade and cool water, and heat acclimation  based on humidity and temperature.

At the higher threshold, more protections, such as monitoring for signs of heat illness and mandatory 15-minute breaks every two hours would start.

“There is overwhelming support for what workers are asking for this week,” U.S. Rep. Greg Caesar (D-Texas) said. … “We could have heat protections codified in federal law this month, if the Republican speaker of the House (Mike Johnson, R-La.) just put it up for a vote. … Heat is a silent killer. It is the biggest weather-related killer in our community. It kills more people than hurricanes and tornadoes and it’s only getting worse.”

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