Food service workers at Logan Airport plan to march through East Boston today to demand higher wages and better benefits.
Union organizers who represent 500 Boston employees of the airline contractor LSG Sky Chefs expect about 150 to 200 people to rally at the Maverick MBTA station and march to the Wood Island stop at 5:00 Wednesday evening. Many of the workers make around $10 or $11 an hour and cannot afford the health plans offered by their employer, their union said in a press release.
The employees have been negotiating a contract with LSG for eight or nine months and their last contract ended in March, according to Matt Furshong, an organizer for Unite Here Local 26. He said workers were not considering striking, but deserved better wages and benefits, given rising profits in the airline industry.
“Just one nickel a ticket would make a huge difference,” Furshong said.
LSG, based in Frankfurt, Germany, said in a statement that it was negotiating with the union in good faith. The company said the union’s focus on ticket prices and airline profits was misplaced because LSG was not an airline, but a supplier to airlines.
“The negotiations are strictly between the employers and the union and not our airline customers,” the statement said.
Separately, the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ is trying to organize 1,500 contractors at Logan Airport who clean airplanes and perform tasks like emptying their lavatories. The Massachusetts Port Authoritywhich operates the airport, has added new labor regulations at Logan, partly in response to workers’ complaints.
Jack Newsham can be reached at jack.newsham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheNewsHam.