About 200 workers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and their supporters rallied Thursday for better health care benefits, part of a national movement intended to improve working conditions at airports across the country.
"We want good, affordable health care benefits at the airport," said Greg Nammacher, president of SEIU Local 26, which represents some 400 MSP workers including wheelchair attendants and airplane cabin cleaners.
The rally, held at Terminal 2, was one of more than a dozen taking place at airports nationwide, including those in Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and Phoenix.
Other unions participating locally were UNITE HERE Local 17, Teamsters Local 120, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
The group is calling upon the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which operates MSP Airport, to require employers to "address unaffordable health care for service workers at the airport," according to a news release.
The MAC adopted a minimum wage ordinance in 2020, which resulted in raises to $15 an hour that began in July. Annual cost-of-living adjustments will be made going forward, increasing to $15.19 in January, according to MAC spokesman Jeff Lea.
In a statement, Lea noted that "thousands of front-line employees support the safe and efficient operations" at MSP. The airport has numerous local, national and international employers which offer a variety of benefits, he said.
The MAC, Lea said, "has worked with these employers to make considerable progress related to fair wages and a positive work experience for these workers," including the minimum wage ordinance in 2020.
