Sea-Tac airline food workers take strike vote

The following is from UNITE HERE Local 8:

SEATAC (June 12, 2019) — Airline food workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 8 at Sea-Tac International Airport who prepare and load the food served on flights departing from the airport will be taking a strike vote throughout the day today. A group of these workers and their union supporters will gather at 11:30 a.m. to discuss the poverty wages and poor health insurance they get from the employers outside of the LSG Sky Chefs SeaTac kitchen, 2358 S. 154th St. 

American Airlines, Delta, and United made more than $50 billion in combined profits in the past five years alone, but workers who prepare and load food and beverages onto their planes are often left living in poverty and unable to afford health care.

Airline food workers at Sea-Tac Airport are not covered by the City of SeaTac living wage, and 73 percent of LSG Sky Chefs workers at Sea-Tac earn less than $15 per hour, including workers who have been working for the company for more than 20 years, according to UNITE HERE Local 8. Only 27 percent had company health insurance in 2018, and fewer than 7 percent had coverage for a family member.

UNITE HERE members at Sea-Tac who work for LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet are taking strike authorization votes along with airline food workers in 20 other cities nationwide over the next two weeks, united under the demand that “One Job Should Be Enough.”

UNITE HERE Local 8 is the hospitality workers’ union and represents over 5,000 members working in the hotel, food service, and airport industries throughout Washington and Oregon, including 900 airline food workers at Sea-Tac Airport. Learn more at www.unitehere8.org.