Food catering workers at Los Angeles International Airport voted Wednesday to authorize a strike in their quest for higher wages and more affordable health care. In a tally taken throughout the day, 97 percent of the 715 LSG Sky Chefs employees represented by Unite Here Local 11 voted to take action, pending approval from the National Mediation Board. Airline food workers in 20 other cities nationwide will participate in similar strike votes over the next two weeks. The local workers plan to stage an informational picket line July 3 at LAX. They will not stop work until authorized by the government. The Railway Labor Act prohibits them from legally striking without a formal release from the National Mediation Board. Negotiations between employees and LSG are ongoing but have failed to secure offers to improve wages and healthcare benefits for airline catering workers in Los Angeles and elsewhere. On Wednesday, the catering company said it is “continuing to negotiate in good faith.” Susan Minato co-president of Unite Here Local 11, said the strike authorization vote sends a clear message: “This has reached a crisis level,” Minato said in a statement. “Airline catering workers at LAX need meaningful changes, and they need them right now.” Wednesday’s vote follows a March labor agreement ratified between 700 other catering workers represented by Unite Here and Flying Food Group. That included wage increases and it removed the costly health care premiums employees had been paying each month.
Employees of food catering company LSG Sky Chefs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, as staff at Los Angeles International (LAX) Airport push for higher wages and more affordable health care. Negotiations with employers have so far failed to produce a deal and workers plan to set up a picket line at LAX on 3 July, but must secure a formal release from the National Mediation Board to be able to officially stop working. Airline food workers in 20 US cities are set to hold similar votes in the coming fortnight.