American Airlines Lounge Workers at LAX Vote to Go on Strike
Nearly 70 American Airlines’ three Admirals Club lounge workers have voted to strike and may announce a walkout any day. They say their pay is not in step with inflation. The lounge workers, who are employed by HMSHost and represented by Unite Here Local 11, took a vote Monday with 98% in favor of a strike.
They plan to gather on the upper departure level of Terminal 4 today for an all-day picket, supported by hundreds of other food workers who are employed by a half-dozen other airport concessions companies at LAX.
They accuse HMS of dragging out their labor dispute. That has resulted in many long-term workers going without a raise for more than three years. The only raises they have received are the ones required by the airport’s minimum-wage law.
“They’re offering us 75 cents, but we’re asking for more,” said HMS employee Hugo Sanchez. He currently earns $19.75 an hour. HMSHost said it already pays 100% of employee healthcare and is offering to increase wages and benefits to at least $24.94 an hour in 2021 and $25.44 in 2022, Daily News reports.
HMS also said they have a labor-peace agreement in place between the two sides, which would bar the workers from taking any action that would disrupt operations at the airport.
The workers union said it signed a labor-peace agreement with HMS in 2009 concerning the concessionaire leases it had at that time. But it added that the agreement doesn’t apply to employees working at American’s Admirals Club lounges.
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I visit both the ATL lounges and LAX every other Friday and Saturday. I don’t see the purpose of the employees behind the computers they have yet to help them with anything. The first time I visited the LAX lounge I asked for general info of the services offered at the lounge, it was brief and didn’t tell me what they could do for me, but there was 5 of them standing behind their podium.
The second time I approached them inquiring about a room that was locked, a short Hispanic lady in her late forties early fifties responded with an accent and a stoic look “it’s for private use” and that was it awkward silence, annoyed by this I pushed and asked again and I got “”Its for high profile individuals” seeing the tension her coworker finally chimed and gave me a good explanation. “High profile” did she want to see the registration card to my Ferrari 458 Spider, maybe I should get a name tag that days High profile. Her position deserves minimum wage at best, the people that clean up the place, bartender and find prep people are hospitable, give them a raise
HMS Host is a terrible company to work for. My daughter worked at an airport HMS Host owned Starbucks and they were not even allowed to keep any of the tips! She worked at another Starbucks before that at min wage but with tips it was better, so she didn’t stay long at the airport.
$25 per hour plus free healthcare isn’t a good deal for lounge employees?
Picking up after nasty, entitled elites who think that lounge employees are nothing more than their personal maid, yea…$25 may not be enough. I’m in enough lounges to see how folks are…and if their homes resemble anything like the way they operate in the lounge…god help them.
Their issue is w HMS not AA. AA hopefully will hire their own workers or contract w someone else if HMS is unable to perform their obligations. I would gladly cross any picket line. This won’t end well for these workers – they are easily replaced!