Courtesy of SEIU
While some folks will spend Martin Luther King Day paying homage to the civil rights leader through service, David Tucker will invoke Dr. King’s spirit of protest.
Tucker has worked at National Airport for 54 years. When he started working as beltman in 1962, he made $1.75 an hour. At the height of his career, during the 1970’s, he says he made about $4 an hour, plus benefits.
But instead of continuing to get promoted, Tucker experienced several demotions due to changes in management, he says. “Every three or four years, there was a different [story].” He now makes $3.77 an hour with no benefits.
Tucker, along with about 200 other DCA service workers, will call for a change in low wages by blocking traffic near D.C.’s MLK Memorial on Monday. The act of civil disobedience is part of a large-scale demonstration that will take place in 10 major cities, where workers are uniting against “gross injustices and inequality that persist at airports across the country,” according to a release. They are requesting that the federal government assist in protecting them and put pressure on airpots, airlines, and contractors.
At 74 years old, Tucker isn’t in the position to look for new employment, and will likely stay at DCA whether the raise comes or not, he says, however he’ll still protest—risking arrest— to “bring attention to the pubic and let them know that some airport workers are being treated unfairly.”
The protest comes amid a growing movement across several industries advocating for higher wages—most workers are asking for at least $15 an hour. National Airport employees also want union rights for every worker.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is scheduled to speak in support of DCA’s service workers who include baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, cabin cleaners, ramp workers, passenger assistance representatives, check-point screeners, fuelers, and security officers. Last October, the Congresswoman released a statement regarding DCA workers’ plight, saying in part:
“From security officers to sky caps, an astonishing range of workers at DCA are not only being denied a living wage, but are being punished for using the law and the Constitution to fight for their rights. This intimidation will not be successful, and DCA contractors should save themselves a finding of engaging in unfair labor practices by recognizing the constitutional rights of their workers.”
In another attempt to raise awareness, hundreds of DCA employees went without food for 24 hours last November—the day before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest transportation days of the year. They ended the fast in a ceremony, after a day of passing out petitions while wearing buttons that say “Ask Me Why I’m Fasting.”
In this protest, DCA workers were joined by colleagues from 13 other airports around the country. The week before the fast, about two thousand workers at seven major airports went on strike.
