Support airport service workers Friday at SeaTac at 12:30 p.m.

SEATAC — Passenger service workers at SeaTac airport are negotiating their first contract since winning $15 and a union under Proposition 1 in 2013. On Friday, June 15, SeaTac service workers will gather to celebrate how worker organizing has transformed SeaTac, to pledge to keep gaining more, and to support unorganized passenger service workers who are fighting to form a union.

“I was here for the Fight for $15, and the difference between the airport then and now is huge,” said Eleni Senebeto, SeaTac Passenger Services Worker. “These used to be part-time, temporary jobs with no job security. Now we have careers.”

TAKE A STAND — Join union airport service workers, Prospect Airport Services workers, faith leaders, labor and community allies for Airport Service Workers Day this Friday at SeaTac Airport, Arrivals Hall, Gate 00 from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Passenger service employees who work for Prospect will speak out at the gathering to bring light to issues they are facing surrounding respect and compliance with Proposition 1.

SEIU 6 passenger services workers begin bargaining for their next contract on Monday, June 11. The top goals for their next contract include affordable health insurance, increased opportunity for full time work, and improved seniority rights and scheduling.

“We need more affordable health insurance because healthcare costs are so expensive,” said Tigist Belay, SeaTac Passenger Services Worker. “All workers and our families deserve to have good healthcare and get their checkups.”

Airport Service Workers Day takes place on Justice for Janitors Day, which marks a turning point in the campaign for living wages for janitors, when a peaceful strike turned violent at the hands of police in Los Angeles in 1990. SEIU 6 union members will spend J4J Day at the airport this year, celebrating the power of working together in a union, and lending support to the airport workers who continue to fight for better lives.

SEIU6 Property Services NW is part of the largest union in the country, Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 2 million service workers in North America. SEIU6 represents more than 6,500 janitors, security officers, airport workers, and allied industries workers in Washington state.