May Wanna Rethink Your Travel Plans

As if boarding a flight during the holidays wasn’t difficult enough with the arduous pre-flight check in hours beforehand, and intimate security screenings with TSA….

Workers for John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York, are threatening to go on strike over the Christmas holiday travel season if certain demands are not met. USA Today reports roughly 300 security workers intend to walk off the job on Thursday, December 20, 2012. They’re asking for improvements in working conditions and training, replacing old equipment, and pay raises. Failure to meet demands means one of the busiest airports in the nation may put a huge wrinkle in the travel plans of thousands anticipating a flight home or away for the holidays. The employees are not unionized but are being supported by SEIU-32BJ of the Service Employees International Union. Workers claim to have repetitively voiced their concerns over poor equipment and the necessity of improved training, only to feel ignored when nothing changed.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

“Employees of two companies, Air Serv and Global Elite Group, are involved in the strike threat, and while their numbers aren’t large, about 300 workers in all would be involved. They say their jobs are crucial to passenger safety.”

The New York Times posted an article back in September that shared similar details about rushed security procedures at JFK; under-trained staff, broken detectors, and failures to properly screen the fuselage for weapons and other illegal items. If flights were running late, employees were urged to rush through or completely ignore the process of examining the airplane altogether.

Update:

The workers have since called off their intended strike. The Port Authority intervened, and aided both parties in reaching an acceptable resolution.