Skycaps at Alaska Airlines Told to Pack Their Bags

Sage is helping Huntleigh skycap workers at SeaTac airport to save their jobs, after Alaska Airlines replaced the company that provided skycap services with another.

Employers like Alaska Airlines routinely use other companies to provide customer services, like skycap and wheelchair services.  When they replace the service provider, there is no guarantee that the new provider will offer jobs to the workers with the prior firm.

The recent replacement of Huntleigh with Bags Inc. resulted in five workers, represented by SEIU Local 6, losing their jobs.  The workers, who have worked for Alaska for as long as 30 years, were union activists who recently helped lesser-paid wheelchair attendants at the airport win an agreement with the Port of Seattle which will improve their wages and benefits.  As union members, these workers and their families lost not only income but hard to find health care insurance.  A recent Post-intelligencer article puts a human face on the devastating consequences:  Skycap jobs fly away at Sea-Tac Airport.

In support of SEIU Local, Sage brought together 19 organizations to protest the virtual firing of these workers by Alaska Airlines and recently visited their corporate headquarters to speak with airline officials.  Read the letter here.  Sage, Local 6 and allies have raised the unfairness of the firings at Port Commission meetings.  For more information or to find out how you can help these workers, contact Kealy Ny (kealy[at]pugetsoudsage.org) or Carrie Fassler (cfassler[at]seiu6.org).