A group of third-party caterers who stock food and beverages on American Airlines planes called on the carrier Monday to help improve their working conditions. Their first request: air conditioning for their trucks.
The workers and their union, Unite Here, said summer heat coupled with hours a day spent driving or waiting on concrete airport tarmacs creates an unsafe situation that can make drivers dizzy, dehydrated and exhausted. At DFW International Airport, heat index measurements taken inside the cabs in early August reached more than 120 degrees during the afternoon, according to a report from the union.
Although the workers are employed by LSG Sky Chefs, a subsidiary of German airline Lufthansa, they’re turning to one of the catering firm’s largest customers to help improve working conditions.
“They’re delivering food to your aircraft, for your passengers,” Emmanuel Vinton, vice president of the local Unite Here chapter, said about American. “If Sky Chef is told by American Airlines ‘You have to provide a good working environment for these folks,’ Sky Chefs would have no choice.”
Vinton, a former catering truck driver, said there are about 800 drivers who work at DFW Airport, shuttling and loading goods from catering facilities to aircraft sitting on the tarmac. According to the union, the drivers, whose pay starts at $13 per hour, spend an average of 5.5 hours per day in their trucks and in some cases do not have access to water during that time because of company policy.
LSG Sky Chefs said that air conditioning the trucks “provides little benefit” because workers spend most of their time outside the cab of the vehicle. The company said it provides opportunities for employees to cool down and stay hydrated, including allowing them to bring water or other drinks with them in the truck “in areas where heat is an issue.”
“The union representing our employees has ongoing opportunities to bring issues to the bargaining table as part of the collective bargaining process, which includes agreed on safety committees,” LSG Sky Chefs said in a statement. “Making false or misleading claims about our company, and trying to circumvent the collective bargain process does not benefit the union or the employees it represents.”
On Monday, a group of catering truck drivers and drivers’ helpers delivered a petition and a letter signed by six Dallas City Council members to American’s headquarters calling on the carrier to take action.
“As the largest employer in the region, you have the opportunity to positively impact many people — not only the direct employees of American Airlines, but also the contracted employees who serve your passengers,” said the letter, which was signed by council members Adam Medrano, Casey Thomas, Omar Narvaez, Kevin Felder, Mark Clayton and Philip Kingston.
American acknowledged it received the letter and petition Monday but said working conditions should be addressed by the drivers and LSG Sky Chefs directly.
“We want our team members and everyone else who supports our operation to have a safe working environment,” American spokesman Matt Miller said. “American does not have a role regarding any of the equipment used by our caterers. We encourage Unite Here to discuss the issue with LSG Sky Chefs directly.”
