Austin Airport food service workers approve possible strike

In a unanimous vote Thursday, restaurant and food service workers at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport gave the green light to a possible future strike if no agreement is reached on their demand for higher wages.

In their effort to achieve cost-of-living adjustment, workers at the various food and beverage establishments at Austin Airport and surrounding airport hotels are pushing for a $25 minimum wage, arguing that their current situation is unsustainable due to the rising cost of living in the capital and the return to pre-pandemic travel levels.

On July 30, the collective bargaining agreement between UNITE HERE Local 23, the local union representing about 900 airport employees, and Delaware North, the food, venue and hotel management company that fills positions at the airport, expired.

Although negotiations on a new collective agreement are expected to begin this month, workers could go on strike if no agreement is reached by October 1.

Markeeta Presley, who works for Delaware North at Austin Airport, said the reason for authorizing the strike was simple: Her coworkers are struggling to make ends meet on their current hourly wage of $20.80.

“Austin is my home – I was born and raised in Austin and I want to stay here. Our wages just can’t keep up as everything gets more expensive,” Presley said in a statement. “When the City Council raised the minimum wage to $20 two years ago, it was a help, but my work is worth more than just minimum wage.”

While workers represented by Local 23 negotiate with Delaware North for wage increases, the issue is also being considered in budget negotiations at City Hall, where a recent budget proposal calls for a minimum hourly wage of $21.63 for city and contract workers.

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“It doesn’t necessarily have to come to a strike,” said city councilor Vanessa Fuentes, pointing to the need for higher wages. “For me, what needs to happen here is very simple and reasonable.”

Fuentes argued that the city should continue to address the cost of living through wage increases, and said the union election shows airport workers’ concerns about whether they can afford to stay in Austin.

“I think the result shows how dire the situation is for workers. It shows how serious they are about going on strike for higher wages,” Fuentes said.

The proposed city budget, which City Manager TC Broadnax unveiled in July, would provide a 4% general wage increase for city and contract employees going forward and follows a previous wage increase in 2022 that raised the minimum hourly wage from $15 to $20. Last year, the council raised the minimum hourly wage to $20.80.

Fuentes, whose district includes the airport, said she wants the city’s efforts and pressure from airport officials to serve as a catalyst for Delaware North to take action.

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“I hope Delaware North recognizes that the market is changing and that they have an opportunity here to also address the affordability crisis by raising their minimum wage as well,” Fuentes said.

In a statement Friday, a Delaware North spokesman said the company was “committed to negotiating in good faith with the union” to “reach a fair agreement that honors our employees and maintains the high standards of service at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.”

“We have scheduled further rounds of negotiations and remain optimistic that we will find an amicable solution that prioritizes both the well-being of our employees and uninterrupted service,” the company said.

As for day-to-day travel at the airport, passengers’ plans would not be affected in the event of a strike because a future strike “will not impact airport operations,” an airport spokesman told the Statesman on Wednesday, a day before the union voted to authorize a strike.

“Concessions are not operated by us, the airport operator, so you must contact Delaware North for comment,” the statement said.

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