Students looking forward to flying home from the Los Angeles International Airport today for Thanksgiving may be thrown a curveball.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) airport workers will hold a march today on Century Boulevard, which runs right by LAX.
According to SEIU Spokesman Mark Gomez, the Century Progress March will protest Aviation Safegaurds (AVSG), who plan to take away health care from SEIU members by next month.
According to Gomez, AVSG supposedly violated the Living Wage Ordinance that was enacted last year, which allowed employees to choose from a $15-per-hour wage without health care or a $12-per-hour wage with health care. Now, according to Gomez, health care will not be an option for the workers starting next month.
The march will start on Century and Airport Boulevards and last from noon to 1:30 p.m., Gomez said. During the march, travelers can expect phased-in closures of westbound lanes of Century Boulevard and northbound lanes of Sepulva Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Times. After the march, workers will return to their respective jobs.
Gomez said that business in LAX will not stop, but traffic may be backed up because of the street closures for the march.
Cal State Long Beach students, like senior recreation and leisure services major Ben Higgins, said that he is glad that he’s not flying out of LAX today.
“I would feel terrible [if I was there] because [there will] be long waits and a lot of people there,” he said. “Especially with the [march], it is going to be nuts.”
Workers who will participate include security members and wheelchair assistants, Gomez said. He said pilots and flight attendants may take part.
“This is an important message,” Gomez said. “It involves the vast majority of Southern California. The working class is sitting on money they could be putting back into education and the city.”
Higgins said that he supports what the airport is doing and thinks that the message will get a lot of attention because it is on a holiday.
“I agree with the employees; they should be getting benefits for working there,” Higgins said. “They [are] doing this because they want to come to terms with [AVSG]. So, I mean, I think it makes sense to strike. If I was them I would probably do it to.”
Senior recreation major Eleni Cuevas said that she disagrees with the march.
“I think it’s not fair to the public who [need] to fly out for this holiday,” she said. “I would demand my money back. It is going to hurt LAX in the long run. People are not going to fly out from [LAX] anymore because of their reputation now.”
Cuevas said that in current economic conditions, it is difficult to provide health care to all employees.
“No company can afford to give health care to everyone, so [they are] just forcing people to strike, and it’s not going to change because this country is broke,” she said. “You’re just going to upset society, and they are just going to go somewhere else … because we are consumers. We consume.”
