By Shawn Montgomery, Cabin Cleaner servicing American Airlines in Charlotte, NC
I don't like to admit it, but despite the fact that I've worked full-time my entire life—first in the Navy, then in private security for 25 years, and now servicing airplanes at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in NC—I don’t have enough paid time off to spend more time with my family during special occasions like the holiday season.
Far too often, I also need to work on my days off to make ends meet, because sometimes, well – sometimes life happens. A few months ago when my wife, who has a disability, and I had a home emergency, we had to use part of our mortgage payment to cover the cost.
As an airport service worker providing services for a multi-billion-dollar corporation, I should be paid a fair wage—and then I wouldn't have to resort to this.
The truth is my experience in the Navy was much more humane than how my co-workers and I are treated providing services to greedy airlines benefiting from billions in public funds. For example, there's such high turnover that we're often expected to do the work of multiple people—and in shorter amounts of time.
For instance: although my fellow cabin cleaners and I were told during training we'd have 15 minutes to clean and conduct security sweeps for each plane, we often only have 7 minutes to clean each cabin as well as inspect it for weapons and any other dangerous objects.
That’s why I joined the Good Jobs for Good Airports movement and am demanding Congress include livable wages and benefits standards in the FAA reauthorization before the Dec 31 deadline. But time is running out! We need you by our side.
Will you join us today and demand Congress stand with airport service workers this holiday season?
