As Cost Of Living Soars, Contract Workers Pressure American Airlines And Others For Higher Pay

Arlington TX

04 April, 2022

6:17 PM

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By Seth Bodine, Fort Worth Report April 4, 2022 Arlington resident Larry Allen is tired of being paid low wages. He's worked at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport as an airline contractor since the 1980s. When he worked as a curbside porter, he said his hourly wage was $2 an hour plus tips. "Why would you pay a grown man $2 an hour, even though you were making tips?" Allen said. After the pandemic, Allen, 69, an Arlington resident, started working as a wheelchair attendant and makes slightly above the Texas minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. He makes $8 an hour. Allen and other wheelchair attendants, airline cabin cleaners and baggage handlers across the country and at DFW Airport are saying the low wages aren't enough and want American Airlines and others to force their contractors to raise wages for workers. American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, employs contractors to do work like cleaning plane cabins. Members of the Service Employees International Union and Airport Workers United want major airlines to force higher wages and benefits for subcontracted employees. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.