Members and friends of the BPN celebrating Black History Month.
Black History Month exhibit
The Black Professional Network (BPN) Employee
Business Resource Group JFK Chapter
celebrated Black History month with
an Expo & Fair on February 27 in Terminal
8. The group welcomed many airport
workers to a comprehensive overview of
Afro-American life from slavery to the
Presidency depicted in photos, textiles and
artwork.
Memorabilia and unknown facts of
achievement and pride were on display to remind
visitors of the black culture for the last 100
years in striking images. BPN celebrates and develops
inclusion focused leaders who leverage cross-firm
collaboration to provide exposure and positively impact
the colleague, client, and community experience.
12 AIRPORT VOICE, MARCH 2020
President BPN JFk
Patricia Joseph holds
a rare Hank Aaron
signed baseball.
32BJ Workers seek insurance
Albany Terminals Act in play
In February a hundred 32BJ
SEIU airport members, joined by
32BJ SEIU Secretary-Treasurer
Larry Engelstein, ranged across
the State Capitol, urging lawmakers
to approve legislation that
will provide them with benefits
supplements compensation that
they could use to acquire health
insurance.
Frontline New York’s airports
workers, who perform vital functions
to help some of our most
vulnerable family members as
they travel, say they deserve important
protections that access to
quality, affordable health insurance
can provide.
The proposed landmark
Healthy Terminals Act—sponsored
by State Sen. Alessandra
Biaggi and Assembly Member
Alicia Hyndman—will do just
that for workers , increase wages
and supplemental health care
benefits, at the John F. Kennedy
International Airport, LaGuardia
Airport, and New York Stewart
International Airport.
“Passage of this legislation
will allow airport workers to acquire
healthcare without falling
into poverty, and gain access to
the services they need to protect
themselves on the job. It’s a privilege
to carry this bill and fight
alongside Assemblymember Hyndman,
New York’s airport workers,
and members of 32BJ SEIU
and Unite Here. We are ready to
give airport workers the access
to healthcare that they deserve,”
she said.
The bill would establish an employer
paid benefits supplement
that has already been proven effective
with the Service Contract
Act, which currently provides
$4.54, with small annual increases.
Workers could then use
this $4.54 for health insurance or
employees working under collectively
bargained contracts could
negotiate to use this supplement
to provide affordable, quality
health insurance directly.
Tracey Mounter, a JFK Airport
wheelchair agent, said she
and her co-workers at the airports
are forced to make impossible
health care choices because
of crushing debt and struggles to
find quality, affordable health insurance
in New York. She wants
health insurance especially be
able to do preventive care.