Belabored Podcast #108: Philly Airport Workers Rising Up, with Gabe Morgan

Airport workers at the Philadelphia International Airport just voted to strike next week during the Democratic National Convention. SEIU 32BJ Vice President Gabe Morgan joins us to explain why.

Airport workers on strike picket at Philadelphia International Airport in March (32BJ SEIU / Flickr)

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As the election season kicks into high gear, all eyes are on Philadelphia ahead of the Democratic National Convention. But maybe the cameras should be focusing not on the theatrics of the convention hall but the political clash at the Philadelphia International Airport. With expert timing, hundreds of service workers at the airport, from baggage handlers to wheelchair attendants to security guards, just voted to authorize a strike during the convention. They don’t have a union, though, and that’s the thing: as subcontracted laborers they’ve been struggling for years for fair wages and the right to unionize, backed by SEIU 32BJ’s nationwide airport worker organizing campaign. We check in with 32BJ Vice President Gabe Morgan to discuss why they’re gearing up to strike, how the Fight for $15 is playing out on the campaign trail, and what they are demanding of their bosses and their politicians, up to, and long after, election day, and we talk with airport subcontractor worker LaQwanda Hagans.

In other news, we have a window-smash heard round the world at Yale and a new labor board ruling that could mark a breakthrough for temp worker organizing rights. With recommended reading on the myth of self care.

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News

Michelle: Yale Worker Who Shattered Racist Window: ‘People are Tired of Being Victims’ (In These Times)

Former Yale Worker Who Broke Window Returning After School Offers Him Job Back (Hartford Courant)

In Historic NLRB Ruling, Temps Win the Right To Join Unions (In These Times)

NLRB Ruling on Mixed Bargaining Units Leaves Questions (Bloomberg BNA)

Conversation

Gabe Morgan, Vice President, SEIU 32BJ, LaQwanda Hagans, airport subcontractor worker

Michelle: Airport Workers Have Voted to Authorize a Strike During the DNC (The Nation)

Philadelphia Airport Workers Vote to Strike During DNC, Demand $15 and a Union (SEIU 32BJ)

Argh, I Wish I’d Written That!

Michelle: Laurie Penny, Life-Hacks of the Poor and Aimless (The Baffler)