(Courtesy of SEIU)

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year, but workers at National Airport weren’t well-fortified. Hundreds of baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, cabin cleaners, ramp workers, passenger assistance representatives, check-point screeners, fuelers, and security officers went without food for 24 hours in protest of low wages.

They’ll end the fast in a ceremony today at noon, after a day of passing out petitions advocating for a $15-per-hour minimum wage and better benefits while wearing buttons that say “Ask Me Why I’m Fasting.” Airport workers at 13 other airports around the country also participated in the 24-hour fast, and last week about two thousand workers went on strike at seven major airports. The protests come amid a growing movement across several industries advocating for higher wages.

“At a time when most Americans celebrate and are grateful for bounty, the men and women who keep our airports running are fasting for $15 and union rights to draw attention to the fact that airport workers often go hungry because they are paid so little they can’t make ends meet,” the service workers union SEIU said in a statement.

According to the union, some airport workers make as little as $6.75 per hour without employer-paid health care. And then there are those who make even less than that before tips. WUSA cited the case of a 75-year-old man who has been working as a porter at DCA for 53 years, but still only makes $3.77 an hour plus tips.

“On an average day, I move nearly 21,000 pounds worth of bags and I am proud of the work I do every day to make sure passengers can get to their loved ones but I only make about $8 an hour,” said Tranden Baccus, a baggage handler at DCA for two airline contractors, Eulen America and PrimeFlight. “We are fasting for a good cause.”

SEIU has touted support from several politicians, including a letter from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

“I decided to fast because it’s the right thing to do, like a prayer,” said Alex Aram, a baggage handler for Eulen America who lives in Woodbridge after immigrating from Kenya a decade ago. “We all come from the same struggle and want it to get better.”