Charlotte Douglas International Airport employees took to the floor of the Charlotte City Council on Tuesday to allege unsafe working conditions, high turnover, and inadequate wages at the state’s largest airport.
The employees delivered hundreds of postcards from members of the 32BJ Service Employees International Union outlining labor concerns at the airport before addressing the council during its public comment session at 5 p.m. Speakers from the union urged city lawmakers to raise wages and pass stricter safety standards for the airport at the local level.
Dominique Chambers, a wheelchair agent at the airport, said working conditions directly interfere with his ability to assist elderly and disabled passengers.
“Every day, we are met with low wages, minimum benefits, and poor working conditions,” Chambers said. “The turnover rate is so high and we are so understaffed that many passengers are left waiting. Sometimes, we’re even pressured to push two passengers at the same time.”
Chambers said the cost of living in Charlotte has outpaced their wages to the point that colleagues of his are forced to stay with their families, live in their cars, or even remain unhoused altogether. Because he makes $12.50 an hour, Chambers said he has no choice but to live with his grandmother.
Donielle Prophete, the president of Communications Workers of America Local 3645, said that if councilors do not act on their concerns, then “now is the time for us to act and vote you off of this dais.” She asked the council to open a committee meeting to allow the union members to propose a new ordinance on workplace safety and higher wages.
“Charlotte Douglas is one of the largest economic engines in the city. If the workers who power it can’t count on their elected officials to protect them, then who can they count on?” Prophete said. “No Charlottean should be working full-time and still unable to afford rent, food, or health care.”
Later in the meeting, City Attorney Anthony Fox said the changes requested by the union are preempted by the state’s Wage and Hour Act, which largely reserves the right to set labor laws to the state legislature. He added that nothing the union has communicated to him about its proposal has changed that analysis.
“I understand the merits of what they’re asking for and it’s altruistic, it’s noble, but we are restricted by law on what we can do and how far we can go,” Fox said.
Councilor Victoria Watlington said it was her understanding that the union’s current proposal is not a direct modification to wage and labor standards, but rather, a change to the criteria the city uses to award contracts at the airport that would take into consideration those concerns — something she said is in the council’s purview.
Though three members of the council — Tiawana Brown, Reneé Johnson, and Watlington — requested a committee hearing on the issue, Mayor Vi Lyles declined to refer the issue, citing a need for further consultation with the city attorney.
Brown also requested that Lyles authorize the city council’s Budget, Government, and Intergovernment Relations Committee to investigate safety and efficiency at the airport. Lyles said she would discuss the matter with Fox’s office and make a determination based on his legal advice.
“These are things that I think about in a way that, how do we create jobs for people that pay better?” Lyles said. “How do we do that? That’s by getting behind people in a way that we can provide these opportunities for them.”
Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Lyles’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
In a press release, the union said the council has the power to pass their proposal, and that arguing preemption by state law is a “well-known tactic used by corporations and politicians to shut down common-sense measures that benefit workers and the public.”
“Dozens of cities across the country have passed similar legislation to raise airport standards — despite claims by some states that such local laws are preempted by state law,” said SEIU Southern Regional Director Chris Baumann. “It is disappointing that Mayor Lyles lacks the political will to do the same. Thousands of airport workers and their families won’t forget this failure come election time.”
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