May 02 2012

LA Activists Converge on Downtown LA; Workers Disrupt LAX

May Day celebrations and actions across the country yesterday made headlines. Here in Southern California, thousands of activists converged onto Downtown LA from four points, North, South, East, and West while workers and their supporters at LA International Airport demonstrated and went on strike, disrupting operations. About 200 LAX workers under the union SEIU United Workers West and their supporters, rallied at the Bradley International Terminal at before marching down Century Blvd and halting incoming traffic at the intersection of Century and Avion. They were protesting health and safety abuses they say they suffer as employees of airport subcontractors. The employees are baggage handlers, cabin cleaners and others who do some of the most physically demanding and dangerous jobs at the airport. They say they have been forced to perform their duties at an ever increasing pace, while their health benefits are cut and their wages remain stagnant. The demonstration culminated in several union representatives, community leaders, and workers being arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department.

KPFK reporters were all over the region, reporting the actions and today we bring you the voices of some of the people involved, beginning with a special report by Uprising’s Martina Steiner from LAX, followed by a report from Uprising host Sonali Kolhatkar covering the West Wind of the actions.

One response so far

One Response to “LA Activists Converge on Downtown LA; Workers Disrupt LAX”

  1. Amyon 02 May 2012 at 10:30 am

    I heard a cabin cleaner being interviewed this morning and would like to do something to make the subcontractor she works for to be held accountable. I can make a petition and send it out on FB or contact the frequent flyer groups I am a member of (only 2) but the idea is not to have that subcontractor loose the job and therefore that woman loose hers, but to make small businesses live up to there own contracts. Obviously she doesn’t have union representation. How can we as listeners encourage these companies to do the right thing?

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