Carlos Rivera has been with Alaska Airlines for 10 years as a ramp service agent, but he still doesn’t make enough to take his children on vacation this summer.<\/p>\n
“What’s the point if we can fly for free down to Disney but I can’t afford a bed and breakfast or a hotel to take the kids?” Rivera asked.<\/p>\n
Rivera was one of about two dozen Alaska Airlines employees who stood in front of the Juneau International Airport on Monday morning and demonstrated their desire for better pay, benefits and long-term job security. Rivera wore a neon-green “Show Us The Money” shirt. Others wore shirts that read, “United, We Bargain. Divided, We Beg.”<\/p>\n
Alaska Airlines and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) & Aerospace Workers Local 2202 union are currently in negotiations, the protesters explained, and they believe this is the time to make their voices heard. According to the website for IAM District 142<\/a>, Alaska Airlines was negotiating with unions in mid-August and will again be in negotiations in Seattle starting this Tuesday.<\/p>\n Alaska Airlines spokesperson Marilyn Romano provided a statement from the company to the Empire about the negotiations.<\/p>\n “Alaska Airlines is currently in the process of negotiating two labor agreements with IAM,” the statement read. “Our philosophy is to pay our employees fair, competitive wages and offer quality of life benefits that include health insurance, 401k contributions and flight benefits. As a rule, we do not elaborate on specifics during union negotiations.”<\/p>\n At Juneau’s airport Monday, Ramp Service Agent John Walters carried a sign that simply said, “Job Security.” Walters has been there for more than 19 years, but said he doesn’t have a long-term contract and lives with that anxiety of not knowing whether he’ll still have his job in a year or two.<\/p>\n “That’s one of the main things,” Walters said. “Our jobs aren’t guaranteed. We live contract to contract.”<\/p>\n Many of the ramp service agents (the people who guide the planes in and unload the planes) and the counter service agents (the people who check you in when you arrive for your flight) have to work second jobs to support their families.<\/p>\n Mary Ann Breffeilh, who has worked as a counter service agent for 20 years, said she’s fortunate because it’s just her and her husband, but she sees her friends and co-workers working multiple jobs and long days. She waved a sign at cars that arrived at the airport, looking to make community members aware of the struggle many of the Alaska Airlines employees face.<\/p>\n “We love this town, but it’s expensive here,” Breffeilh said. “We’re just wanting people to understand that we’re not trying to be greedy, we just want fairness.”<\/p>\n