30 AIRPORT VOICE, JULY 2019
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Eulen workers
strike at JFK
Citing unfair labor practices
BY BILL PARRY
Airport workers for Eulen
America, an airline contractor for
American Airlines and Delta, went
on strike Thursday morning at JFK
International Airport and three
other major airports.
Protesters complain that Eulen
has a long history of mistreatment
of their almost exclusively
immigrant workforce including allegations
that it retaliated against
workers for speaking out and practices
unfair labor practices.
Last month, elected offi cials
joined with baggage handlers,
cabin cleaners and wheelchair attendants
as they rallied at City Hall
claiming the company had forced
them to use up paid sick leave that
they had accrued in 2018. New York
City law clearly authorizes workers
to carry over up to 40 hours of unused
sick time per year.
The workers fi led complaints
with the city Department Of Consumer
and Workforce Protection.
"We were badly understaffed because
workers were forced to use
up their paid sick leave,” JFK and
Eulen Passenger Verifi cation Agent
Whitney Moore said, “Those of us
working our shifts had to do everything,
whether it’s in our job
description or not. We work hard
to support travelers and all we are
asking is that our employer follows
the law and respects us.”
Eulen baggage runner Levelle
Lindsay said the challenge
the workers face is when they are
forced to use up the time they carried
over from the previous year
means that, in case of emergency,
they won't have time to use immediately.
"Isn't the law supposed to make
it easier for workers like me to take
sick leave when we need it, not when
it's convenient for our employer to
have us use the time?" he said.
Eulen said these were accusations
by a union which is putting
politics before the facts in an effort
to drum up support.
“We take our full compliance
with New York City Worker Protection
& Workplace Laws and all
other applicable regulations and
laws very seriously,” Eulen CEO
Xavier Rabell said. “SEIU’s allegations
that workers must use or lose
paid sick leave are simply false. The
facts are clear, Eulen America has
Sabrina Ladson, member 32BJ through
Summit Security supports un-unionized
workers employed by Eulen working
as baggage and wheelchair handlers
through a Eulen/American Airlines contract.
Photo by Jeff Yapalater
a generous and well documented
Paid Time Off/Sick Leave policy for
our JFK employees which allows 40
hours, the maximum permissible
amount, of unused PTO to be carried
over for use through March 31
of the following year.”
The action at JFK, Miami, Fort
Lauderdale and Washington D.C.
came after Eulen was the subject of
a Congressional roundtable discussion
which featured an expose on
the inhumane and hazardous working
conditions for airport workers
in Miami. When asked about the
poor working conditions there, Rabell
said, “I am not the right person
to ask. I am the CEO.”
A growing list of elected offi cials
have called for American Airlines
and Delta to demand Eulen change
its practices or hire a new contractor.
"The way Eulen America
conducts itself at JFK International
Airport is hurting Queens
neighborhoods,"City Councilman
Donovan Richards said. "We can't
have working families being mistreated
or having their rights violated
by their own employer. Eulen
America has an obligation to treat
these workers with dignity and respect
and to obey city and state
laws. This is why I am here today
supporting these workers exercising
their rights to be heard."
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