Four members of Unite Here Local 2 — the local union threatening to strike against catering companies at San Francisco International Airport — were among dozens arrested during a labor protest at American Airlines’ Fort Worth, Texas headquarters on Tuesday.
Airline catering workers represented by Unite Here blocked an entrance to the company’s offices in an act of civil disobedience aimed at drawing increased attention to a nationwide labor dispute.
“I don’t make enough and there’s people who make less than I do, and American Airlines makes billions of dollars in profit,” said Roberto Alvarez, a loader at SFO, in a phone interview from the scene of the protest. “I’m willing to do this to send a message to American Airlines that we need better pay and health care.”
Alvarez, Unite Here Local 2 President Ananda Singh, the unit’s food service director Lorraine Powell and another worker, Linda Fajarado, were among those arrested, according to a union spokesman.
In all, 58 people were arrested at the demonstration, said Forth Worth Police Officer J. Pollani. The protesters face a charge of obstructing streets and sidewalks and a $274 fine, Pollani said in an email.
“I took arrest today because even though I load carts full of food and beverage for American Airlines flights, I’m uninsured and have to go to a free clinic,” Alvarez said in a union statement following his arrest.
“My company insurance is so expensive that I can’t afford it, and I don’t think that’s right. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make one job enough.”
The demonstration comes two months after an overwhelming majority of the nearly 1,600 Unite Here Local 2 workers at SFO employed by airline contractors Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet voted to authorize their union leadership to call a strike. The companies provide food and beverage services to several airlines, including American.